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Denis Halliday and Scott Ritter both have seen and felt first-hand how 10 years of economic sanctions imposed on the Iraqi government by the United Nations has starved the people of the country instead of bringing down Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist Regime as intended.

Halliday, who served as the Assistant Secretary General for the UN, quit his 34-year career with the organization in 1998 in protest of what he calls failed policy and a humanitarian catastrophe.

The same is true for Ritter, an ex-Marine, staunch Republican and former head of the Concealment Investigations Unit for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), who resigned from his post as Senior Weapons Inspector for UNSCOM two years ago, condemning the sanctions as illegal, immoral and un-American.

“What is being done (in Iraq) is in your name,” Ritter told an audience of about 40 people at the Friends Church at 1600 Sacramento St. Friday morning. “You are being held responsible for what happens in Iraq.”

The two former UN officials turned crusaders to end the sanctions are in the Bay Area this weekend as part of an educational visit sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Coalition to End the Sanctions on Iraq. Ritter and Halliday will speak tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral at Gough and Geary Streets in San Francisco.

In 1990, the UN imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after its occupation of Kuwait. Since then, 1.5 million Iraqis, mostly children and the elderly, have died as a result of lack of medicines and food. The embargo allows medicines and some food to be imported without restriction, but without export earnings Iraq cannot pay for imports. As a result, the Iraqi people face serious shortages of food, medicine and clean water, and are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

According to the World Health Organization, 5,000 under five-year-old children die each month from such easily treatable conditions as diarrhea and dehydration. And UNICEF estimates that over 30 percent of Iraq’s children under five are chronically or acutely malnourished.

Halliday and Ritter contend that the Clinton administration – and the Bush administration before it – has no vision for Iraq beyond containment through the economic sanctions, and say that this policy of regime removal has no chance of success. In a March 9 letter to the Boston Globe, Ritter writes, “The Iraqi opposition is plagued by deep internal divisions, and has no meaningful constituency inside Iraq.”

Ritter says that this internal inability to mount an effort to remove Hussein by rebellion guarantees that the dictator will remain in power, while the people are sacrificed.

“We will never lift the embargo while Saddam is in power,” Halliday said.

Halliday, a native of Ireland, said the U.S. has the power to promote stability and stop the damage.

“It’s a tragedy for the U.S., as well as Iraq,” he said. “The U.S. manipulates the UN. Its policy is seen as U.S. policy. The American people have to convey that they don’t agree with this. And you must do this through the electoral process,” he said.

Halliday lamented that he didn’t foresee a change in policy in the next presidential administration.

“We can only hope that with help we will get this message across,” he said.

Halliday said that, though there are millions aware and in opposition to the sanctions, the process of ending the sanctions through government is “too late and too slow.”

“Perhaps a million children have died,” he said.

The forthright Ritter agreed. He said that he’s spoken with several representatives and senators in Washington who believe that the sanctions should be lifted.

“Many Congressmen have taken the stance that the sanctions are bad,” he said. “And their hearts are in the right place, but the resolutions they introduce have no chance of succeeding.”

Ritter explained that the “Saddam-centric” policies of the Bush and Clinton administrations have injected fear into Americans by propagandizing the chance that Iraq could again build weapons of mass destruction, when the reality is far different, he says.

“This perception makes it difficult for our politicians to end the sanctions,” he said. “They talk about Saddam as the Hitler of the Middle-East.”

Politicians run the risk of losing votes because when they “explain to their domestic audience that they’re in favor (of ending the sanctions). It seems like they are coddling this brutal dictator,” he said.

As the Senior Weapon Inspector for the UN, Ritter said that from 1991 until his resignation in 1998, he witnessed Iraq’s subjection to “the most stringent arms inspection.”

“The embargo and Desert Storm have devastated their capacity to build weapons of mass destruction,” he said. “For seven and a half years, we dismantled the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction infrastructure piece by piece.”

He said that Iraq has not gained access to rebuild these weapons of mass destruction – chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles – and said that by the time of his retirement, they had been destroyed or rendered harmless.

“This is the reality,” he said. “The other reality is that, politically, it doesn’t matter what I say.”

Both Halliday and Ritter called the embargo a “money-maker.” Ritter said that the U.S. persuaded tiny Bahrain to purchase a multi-million dollar advanced Ballistic missile system, and have capitalized on selling arms to several other of Iraq’s neighbors.

“It continues the dominance of the American defense industry in the area,” Ritter said.

Halliday said that the U.S has made $12 billion in arms sales in the region, and said that the instability creates an environment for “good sales” of weapons.

H.R. 3825, a bill that would provide the people of Iraq with access to food and medicine, was introduced into the House of Representatives March 2 and is co-sponsored by six Bay Area congresspersons including Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland.

Halliday and Ritter will be meeting with the staff of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to solicit their support for the bill.

Educating every person is still the imperative. “It’s important that we become educated,” he said. “And when we do, we have to (educate) our senators and congressmen who can change this.”

The sight of giant redwood trees felled and sliced into logs can raise the hackles of a lot of people, especially in Berkeley.

Woodworker Jim Parodi knows this well. At Artisan’s Burlwood Furniture, at 910 Ashby and San Pablo avenues, large logs and stumps are often piled by the roadside awaiting carving or finishing into furniture.

“People see the logs and they get real upset,” Parodi says. “They just don’t get it.”

All of Parodi’s redwood comes from street trees – sequoias removed by farmers, homeowners, or local businesses from their properties. It’s wood that would otherwise go into the landfill or into the fireplace, Parodi says. And it’s not exactly prime lumber, either. He recently received two trees from the UC Berkeley campus that were rotting from the center out.

“We pulled nine fourteen-inch nails out of the last tree we cut,” he says. “Mills won’t touch something like that.”

But for Parodi, 49, and his associates, the wood is a treasure, yielding rich veneers, swirls, and lovely grains that make for unique works of art.

While it’s the chainsaw-carved bears and Indians that first catch the eye of the passer-by, Parodi actually does not do any carving himself. The popular statues are the work of two carvers, Ken Brown and Mark Colp, independent contractors who sell their work through Parodi’s shop. Parodi is strictly a furniture maker, and his medium of choice is burlwood – the curiously curled and swirled woodgrain that results when a tree suffers an injury or infection.

Cutting slabs of wood from old stumps, Parodi fashions table tops, chairs, and benches that have a wild, organic appearance. A coffee table ebbs and curls in a sort of amoeba-like shape. A redwood bench embraces the sitter with graceful rootlike structures that flare out around the back. A large bed looks as though it might take flight, with irregular head and foot boards that seem to grow out of the base.

Since redwood forests are unique to the Pacific Coast, Parodi is in an ideal location. Living right in the wood belt, he supplies blocks of redwood to many other craftsmen. And his own work draws customers from all over the world. The recent addition of a website (www.artisanburlwood.com) has helped the business grow. “People say to me, ‘I never ever dreamed I would buy a burlwood table; I always hated them.’ But when they come in and see it done right...”

Most visitors will first pass through rows of carved wooden statues before they get to the burlwood furniture in the showroom. Ken Brown, a burly man with flowing blond hair and beard, makes many of the smaller carvings that attract tourists and other customers. After carving, he uses a small blowtorch to blacken the nose and add details to a bear figure. Bears are especially popular (this is Cal country, after all), but he also carves squirrels, birds, horses, and more. One of his works, a pelican, is headed for Germany this week. The distinctive red-and-yellow hues of the wood make different patterns on each sculpture. Sometimes he’ll stain the wood, to make a black bear, for instance – other times the statues are left to their natural color, darkened only slightly by a weatherproof finish.

A man and a woman arrive with a pickup truck to claim a six-foot bear carving made by Mark Colp. The bear, standing erect on its hind legs like a totem pole, will be the main feature of a garden. The woman looks a bit wistfully at some of the smaller, cuddly-looking bears on display. “I’d rather he’d bought something more that size,” she admits.

Another customer comes in, attracted by the pelican. She loves pelicans, she tells Parodi. She’s got them all over her house. He takes her order and tells her it will be ready in a week.

The statuary may attract walk-ins, but the burlwood is doing a brisk business as well. Many customers come in to admire the table tops and coffee-table bases. Parodi’s furniture ships around the country and around the world.

Parodi is eco-conscious, emphasizing that his business is Audubon Society-approved. “I believe that when the forests are gone, we’ll follow.” He notes that the collapse of Mayan civilization in Mexico came about at least in part because of their slash-and-burn agricultural practices. But he doesn’t want to be hypocritical. “I can live off a tree for three years,” he says. “So it’s easy for me to throw stones at glass houses. I don’t want to be self-righteous about it.” When it comes to protecting old-growth forests, he notes, California is a lot better than many parts of the world.

An Alameda native, Parodi has been working in wood since he was nine years old. He opened his first burlwood shop in Alameda in 1971 and moved the business to Berkeley in 1978. In that time, he’s seen competition dwindle away to almost nonexistent. “It was very popular at one time,” he says of woodworking, “But it’s hard to make a living. There used to be burl shops all over the place. Now I think the nearest one is in Santa Cruz.” During lean times, Parodi has finished furniture, worked odd jobs, and performed as a guitarist, including gigs with the 1980s local bar band The Procrastinators.

He’s weathered good times and bad, windfalls and financial setbacks. He has overcome health problems that threatened his livelihood. He is, astonishingly, allergic to sawdust (he gets around this by wearing a special mask when cutting or sanding) and he has minor problems with carpal tunnel syndrome. He combats this with a strict health regimen, eating only certain foods, exercising, and lifting weights every day.

“A lot of my friends are starting to retire,” he reflects. “I never even thought of retiring. It’s not like I’m sitting all day at a desk job, just waiting to get enough money so I can quit.”

After all the years of good and bad, watching others drop out of woodworking for more comfortable jobs, Parodi has no regrets. His long persistence has paid off. Today, he says, he has more work than he can handle. The customers find him.

“This is the kind of business where the harder you work, the more it will bless you.”

Just because George W. Bush cannot pronounce “subliminal” (he says “sumbliminable”) does not relieve him of the ultimate responsibility for advertisements supporting his candidacy. Indeed, what are we to conclude about a candidate’s ability to run the federal government if he can’t even run his campaign organization?

The use of psycho-mechanical techniques to manipulate people violates Federal Communication Commission regulations. When such manipulations are used in the political process it is worse than a simple crime, it is an attack on our democracy.

Subliminal advertising is intended to convey messages without the receiver’s awareness. This is not constitutionally-protected free speech. This is election fraud.

This outrage must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This type of political advertising is not just a smirky game. If the reception of candidates’ messages forces one to accept the risk of subliminal manipulation, then the public has lost the unfettered access to information upon which our democracy depends.

The argument that the effectiveness of subliminal ads is uncertain, does not mitigate this heinous offense.

The fact is the Republican National Committee spent $ 2.5 million to run the ads. That amount of money says they believed the ads would be effective.

Their intention was clear: it was to mess with people’s minds. They spent the money to try to control the viewer’s attitude about Bush, not on the basis of his ideas, achievements, or even emotional appeal, but through sinister, subconscious manipulation, undetectable by the viewer.

Not only does this undermine democracy, it subverts the integrity of each individual’s human rights.

Bush’s response that, “one frame out of 900 hardly makes a conspiracy” reeks of denial and obfuscation, the personal characteristics that we don’t need in a president.

This is a man who will not, or can not, take responsibility for his actions. His statement may also indicate that he is too dull-witted to understand the concept. Subliminal messages are a few, quick zingers designed to be received without one’s conscious awareness.

If there were many such frames, they wouldn’t be subliminal, would they? Is Bush that stupid? Or, is he trying to cover up as his father did during the Iran Contra scandal when the senior Bush said, “I was out of the loop.”?

Government bureaucrats are ultimately accountable to the public, through oversight of the President and the U.S. Congress. Corporate bureaucrats are accountable only to the accountants.

A classic rivalry, a confrontation of two head coaches with thirty five years of experience between them, a battle between two teams that combined to win 18 games last season, and a near comeback amidst raucous cheers on a cool, crisp autumn night.

Long live high school football.

The St. Mary’s Panthers (1-1, 0-0) squared off with their longtime rival El Cerrito Gauchos (1-1, 0-0) and fell just 13 yards short of pulling off a comeback victory. Trailing by eight points with just over a minute remaining and possession of the football deep in Gaucho territory, Panther quarterback Jason Washington’s pass fell just in front of diving wideout Omar Young, and the Gauchos escaped with a 27-19 home victory.

St. Mary’s dug themselves a huge hole in the first half when Gaucho running back Chijuke Onyenegecha rumbled for scores of 80, 50, and 25 yards. Onyenegecha’s biggest challenge during the game appeared to be making sure his rushing yards exceeded the number of vowels found in his last name. Onyenegecha took care of that problem by opening with a 50-yard sweep for a score. Two possessions later, he took a perfectly timed screen pass the distance for an 80-yard touchdown. With four minutes left in the first half, Onyenegecha scored on an another sweep from 25 yards out on a drive he kept alive with an 18-yard run on 4th and 11.

Onyenegecha finished the night with 12 carries for 184 yards, 132 receiving yards on two receptions and four touchdowns. Built like former San Francisco 49er Roger Craig with the speed of St. Louis Ram Marshall Faulk — Onyenegecha runs the 100-yard dash in 10.16 seconds — he chugged out all four Gaucho touchdowns despite suffering a calf cramp with 22 seconds left in the first half after returning a kickoff. Onyenegecha also returned punts and deflected passes from his cornerback position. After the game, the one-man wrecking crew they call “Joe-K”commented, “I was just trying to do my best.”

St. Mary’s head coach Dan Shaughnessy knew he had to get the ball in the hands of his main weapon, tailback Trestin George, after the Panthers fell behind by 19 points in the first half. George was stifled by the Gaucho run defense for most of the night before breaking out with a 39-yard touchdown in the second half.

During that initial Panther scoring drive, Shaughnessy utilized three wide receivers for a majority of the plays. Under constant pressure all game long, Washington zeroed in on senior wideout Omar Young as his primary target, and Young delivered with 5 receptions for 106 yards and a 62-yard score.

The Panther defense, under siege most of the night by the rumblings of Onyenegecha, stood tall in the fourth quarter. After Onyenegecha’s 52-yard touchdown in the third quarter gave the Gauchos a 27-7 lead, the Panther defense corralled the Gaucho offense on their next two offensive possessions.

With 2:17 left in the game and a 27-19 Gaucho lead, two time All-American lineman Lorenzo Alexander utilized every bit of his 280-pound frame to block a Gaucho punt that gave the Panthers possession at the Gaucho 13-yard line with a minute and a half left to play. Remarkably, Alexander blocked the punt after suffering an injury "up high" during El Cerrito’s previous offensive possession that Shaughnessy hopes isn’t a bruised rib.

“(El Cerrito) came out, (and) once they scored, they loved it so much they had to do it twice more,” reflected Shaughnessy. “We had to scramble to get back into it.”

The Panthers certainly didn’t give up, and they nearly pulled off an amazing comeback in front of a strong representation of St. Mary’s fans who attended the game.

Saturday, Sept. 16

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Raise a healthy garden

1 - 5 p.m.

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo Ave.

Discover approaches to beautiful landscaping that conserve water, minimize chemicals and manage pests and weeds in the least-toxic way. Led by Tanya Drlik of Bio-Integral Resource Center, the workshop is followed by an optional garden tour.

$15 general/ $10 Ecology Center members

To register, call 559-8701 x233

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizen’s Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements.

Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Call 549-0816

Nude and Breast Freedom

Parade

noon

People’s Park, between Dwight Way and Haste Street

Celebrate being exposed to each other’s bare bodies in acts of friendship and naked abandon, in dance, song, frolic, rituals and street theater, with the X-plicit Players. , starts at noon at People’s Park and continues up Telegraph Ave. .

www.xplicitplayers.com

848-1985.

“Whose Media? Our Media!”

7:30 p.m.

Unitarian Fellowship

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)

A forum and discussion on independent media with speakers including: Dennis Bernstein of KPFA, Andrea Buffa of Media Alliance, Steve Dunifer of Free Radio Berkeley and DeeDee Halleck of Paper Tiger TV.

549-0732, www.indybay.org

Celebrating Judy Foster

6 p.m.

Ashkenaz Music and Dance Cafe

1317 San Pablo Ave.

The potluck is to celbrate the life and activism of Judy Foster.

Monday, Sept. 18

Young Adult Free Computer

Literacy Class

6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (Mondays and Wednesdays)

1730 Oregon St.

Get a basic understanding of word processing, spreadsheets, software and hardware. Classes are open to adults and dedicated students, 15 years and older. Space is limited but still available. Classes began September 11 and will run for 11 weeks.

More Info: 644-6226

Social Dance

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst/MLK Jr. Way

644-6107

Traffic Calming Workshop

6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis St.

Come share your ideas about traffic calming in Berkeley. Review and provide input on a “tool box” of measures that could be implemented on local streets. Decide whether these proposals could help Berkeley achieve reasonable traffic speeds and volumes.

More information and copies of the Program and Toolbox contact:

Nathan Landau, Senior Planner, City of Berkeley at 705-8136

Berkeley Democratic Club

endorsement meeting

7 p.m.

Northbrae Church

941 The Alameda

The BDC will be endorsing candidates for office.

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Recreation Subcommittee of

the Parks and Recreation

Commission

7 p.m.

John Hinkle Park

Southampton Ave. between San Diego Rd. and Somerset Pl.

Discussions will focus on future plans for the John Hinkle Clubhouse. The meeting will be held in the Boy Scout Hut in the park.

Contact: Recreation Programs Administrator, Madalyn Law at 644-6530

To publicize an event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.net) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted four days in advance. Please include a daytime telephone number.

The proposed hills fire station has a number of hurdles to jump before it gets even close to being built.

Tuesday, the City Council voted to inch the process along by setting aside $35,000 from its general fund to hire architect Marcy Wong to design the station.

But before Wong takes pen in hand, there will be meetings with the neighbors of the proposed site at Shasta and Park Hills roads to get their input, said Phil Kamlarz, deputy city manager.

Neighbors have expressed a number of concerns about the proposed fire station. They fear their quiet rural neighborhood will take on the feel of an industrial zone.

In addition to consulting with the neighbors, fire officials will hold discussions with other agencies involved with the project – the East Bay Municipal Untility District and the East Bay Regional Parks District – to determine what features these agencies want in the structure, proposed to serve all three entities.

The size will depend on neighborhood input and on how many pieces of apparatus are to be stored there, Kamlarz said.

Once these issues are resolved and the designs are drawn, the city will undertake an Environmental Impact Report, which will cost $60,000 to $80,000.

The final step before the shovels hit the dirt, will be for the city to go before a judge to ask if it can use Measure G funds for the project, bond funds which were originally to go to retrofitting the fire stations.

Going before a judge is called a “validation action.” Passed in 1992, Measure G approved a multi-jurisdictional fire station which was to be shared by Oakland, Berkeley, EBMUD and the East Bay Regional Parks District. Oakland however, built its own fire station, leaving Berkeley without a partner. Such a ruling would change the language of the 1992 measure to allow such funds for a single jurisdictional fire station.

City officials do not want to retrofit the old Fire Station No. 7, a small station located on a narrow street in a populated zone, Kamlarz said. The station, built in 1920, is so riddled with termites “that if an earthquake hit, the fire truck would be buried underneath the building,” Councilmember Better Olds asserted.

If the judge turns the city down, Kamlarz said the next step would be to go back to the voters to ask them for the funds to build the new station.

“It’s a complicated process,” Fire Chief Reggie Garcia said..

Meanwhile, Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan is negotiating with the East Bay Municipal Utility District to purchase the proposed site, according to Olds, who represents the district.

Close to one acre in size, the proposed site is on the border with Contra Costa County and next to Tilden Park.

“It’s a skinny piece of land,” Olds said, “but it’s some of the last remaining unused land in the hills. Developers are lining up to get it if the plans for the fire station fall through. They could build between four and six new homes.”

Despite the outcry of neighbors close to the proposed station, Olds said the majority of the North Berkeley community is backing the new station.

“The proposed station would give peace of mind to residents who are worried about the danger of fires, akin to the Oakland fire of 1992, jumping over the fire break and damaging the neighborhood. Tilden Park is a real danger. So little fire safety work has been done there. The fifty foot fire break isn’t nearly enough. Remember, the fire jumped over highway 24 in Oakland. Fifty feet isn’t much,” Olds continued.

The proposal includes more than a fire station. A “wildlands fire truck” capable of going off road and handling fires that erupt in otherwise inaccessible locations is to be housed in the hills. The new location would reduce response time to the Park Hills neighborhood by 3 minutes, Olds said.

“Most people don’t realize that this would be the only fire station east of the Hayward Fault,” said Barbara Allen, a resident of the Berkeley Hills. “In the event of a large earthquake, we’d be totally isolated from the rest of Berkeley.”

Over three hundred residents have signed a petition asking for the proposed fire station to be built as quickly as possible.

“The longer it takes, the higher the chance that a fire breaks out. October is when the winds from Contra Costa County start blowing, and that’s when fires can spread in the blink of an eye,” Olds said.

Twelfth-ranked California remained undefeated with a 2-1 victory over 10th-ranked Wake Forest Friday at the Wake Forest/Nike Invitational at Spry Stadium. Cal is 6-0 for the first time since opening the 1988 season with the same record, while the Deamon Deacons dropped to 4-2.

The Golden Bears struck first with an unassisted goal in the 23rd minute off the foot of junior striker Kyla Sabo.

The Deamon Deacons tied the game at 1-1 and ended the Bears streak of five-consecutive shutouts in the 29th minute with a goal from Joline Charlton. Charlton got behind Cal’s defense and deposited a pass from Emily Taggart into the back of the net.

Charlton’s goal ended a string of 478 minutes and eight seconds of scoreless Cal goaltending dating back to last season.

The score remained tied at halftime with Cal holding a 7-3 advantage on shots.

Cal senior defender Tami Pivnick nailed the game-winning goal on a free kick from 25 yards at 58:28. Her shot sailed towards the Deacons wall and nicked off one a forward’s head as it drifted into the goal. The Bears defense held off the Deacons’ attack for the victory.

“We got a little aid from an inexperienced keeper,” admitted Boyd. “No one here knew we were as good as we are. We beat the No. 10 or No. 14 team in the country depending on which poll you’re going by. We know we can play this way every game.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Starting next fall, it will take good grades and good health insurance to get into the University of California.

UC regents voted Thursday to make insurance a mandatory requirement, believed to be the first such requirement by a major U.S. university system.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, regents approved pay raises for top administrators and heard from a noisy contingent of students who briefly disrupted the meeting with their calls for a return of affirmative action admissions.

The insurance issue stemmed from concerns over the estimated 40 percent of undergraduates who have inadequate or no coverage. Twenty-five percent of the system’s annual dropouts are due to medical issues, with a significant portion due to insurance problems, a report found.

The requirement passed by voice vote with little debate, although Regent Judith Hopkinson registered her opposition. Hopkinson said she was worried the requirement would be a financial burden to some.

Students who don’t have their own insurance will be able to buy coverage from their campuses for between $400 and $500 a year. Financial assistance is available for needy students.

The measure was endorsed by the Associated Students of the University of California, but some students have said they think the requirement is too much.

“A lot of students are going to be worried by this because a lot of students can’t afford health insurance,” said Steve Davey, a commissioner in UCLA’s student government.

Davey, who has health insurance, said he understands administrators’ concerns about those who don’t, but considers the new requirement intrusive. “About seven or eight years ago Hillary Clinton tried the same thing on a national scale and people on both sides of the spectrum rejected that idea.”

Michael Drake, UC vice president for health affairs, said campuses will try to help students afford the coverage. But he said the costs of going without health insurance are far greater.

Health insurance is already mandatory for all graduate and international students at UC and for undergraduates at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Officials from those campuses said students have welcomed the coverage.

In other business, regents approved annual salary increases of between 3.5 percent and 4.3 percent for top administrators. The raise takes President Richard C. Atkinson’s pay from $337,300 to $349,100.

This year’s state budget provides an increase of about 3 percent for faculty. The staff employee rate is 3.5 percent, but that will be augmented by an extra $19 million. Staff making $40,000 or less will get an extra 2 percent and those making $40,000 to $80,000 will get an extra 1 percent.

Before taking the pay raise vote, regents heard from a number of speakers about affirmative action. The board voted in July 1995 to stop considering race or gender when evaluating applicants, a policy that was endorsed by the 1996 passage of Proposition 209, which dismantled most state affirmative action programs.

Some speakers Thursday urged regents to stick with their policy on the grounds that ultimately students are better off earning a place through academic merit alone.

But most of the speakers said affirmative action is necessary to compensate for inequalities in the public education system and to provide diversity on UC campuses.

Since the new policies took effect in fall 1998, the percentage of black, Hispanic and American Indian undergraduate enrolled at UC has dropped from 22 percent to 16 percent, even though high school graduation rates for those groups increased slightly.

Atkinson said Wednesday he will convene a meeting in December to evaluate new approaches to admissions in light of the experience of the past five years.

Vivian Scott, a new black student at UC Berkeley, said being on a campus where only 4.8 percent of the students are black is disconcerting. She said it is a myth to think that black and Hispanic high school students have the same opportunities as others.

“Institutional racism is real. It is not a figment of our imagination,” she said.

After the 35-minute public comment session ended, about three dozen students shouted for more time to speak. However, after a few minutes, they walked out, chanting “We’ll be back.”

The California women’s golf team took a huge step towards opening the 2000 fall season with a bang at the 18-team Oregon State Invitational Friday at Trysting Tree Golf Course. After 36-of-54 holes, the Golden Bears were in first place with a score of 597, one stroke ahead of San Francisco at 598.

Bear junior Anne Walker leads the field with a one-under-par 143, which included a school-record tying 70 in the second round. In addition to tying her own record for 18 holes, Walker broker her previous school record of 145 over 36 holes.

Two Cal sophomores also were largely responsible for the Bears fast start. Sophomore Ria Quiazon is tied for 11th with a 150, while redshirt sophomore Amber Reilly is tied for 13th at 151. Freshman Sarah Huarte is in 28th place with a 155.

The Bears will try to win their third tournament in program history Saturday when the final 18 holes are contested.

Runners head to Fresno meet

The Cal men’s and women’s cross country teams continue this season’s competition Saturday at the Fresno Invitational in Fresno, Calif.

The men begin the five-mile course at 10 a.m. while the women’s 6,000-meter race starts at 10:40 a.m.

Both teams are coming off a week of rest after the Hornet Harrier Classic on Sept. 2, where the men placed second and the women took fifth.

Martin Conrad, who placed seventh at the Harrier Classic, Corey Creasy, who is racing for the first time this season, and Marielle Schlueter, who placed tenth at the Harrier Classic, are expected to be among the team leaders this weekend.

Field hockey splits at Harvard

Cal came back from a 2-1 loss to Harvard Thursday to win a close one Friday night as the Bears defeated Rhode Island in stroke-play after a fruitless endeavor to finish the game in two extra periods.

Nora Feddersen scored the lone regulation goal for the Bears to bring her season total to three.

After the two overtime sessions, the first set of stroke play failed to determine the winner forcing the teams to go to a second set. Cal finally came up on top after playing over 100 minutes of game time.

The Bears were put in a position to win with the help of a familiar face in senior goalkeeper Sara Hoehn. Hoehn who had an 87.1 save percentage to lead the nation last year, stepped up and made a big contribution for Cal.

“Sara Hoehn had an amazing game,” said assistant coach Jennifer Vinnitti. “She was stellar; she made some spectacular saves.”

SAN FRANCISCO — A Modesto auto mechanic said Friday he is devastated by the accidental shooting of his 11-year-old son by a veteran SWAT officer, and said he is innocent of the drug charge that led to the boy’s death and his own arrest during this week’s raid at their home.

“I am destroyed,” Moises Sepulveda, accused of selling methamphetamine, said in Spanish during a telephone interview with the Associated Press hours after he was released from custody pending his next hearing. “They killed an innocent child.”

Alberto Sepulveda, a seventh-grader, died Wednesday morning on the floor of his bedroom, accidentally shot in the back by a blast from officer David Hawn’s shotgun.

As the family and community continued to criticize police for the raid, new details emerged about the sweeping 9-month drug investigation that targeted Sepulveda and more than a dozen others.

For one, authorities disclosed for the first time that a reserve Modesto police officer — who was not immediately identified — lives at one of the 14 locations where SWAT teams served federal search warrants.

At that particular site, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, which has jurisdiction, was asked by federal authorities to send in its SWAT team based on information that the officer might be armed.

“We served soley as the tactical arm of the federal government in serving that search warrant in Waterford,” said Sheriff’s spokesman Kelly Huston.

“So, as part of that, we were briefed and told the person was an active reserve officer with Modesto Police Department. We didn’t want to come face to face with a police officer in a disadvantageous situation. That is why we were asked to use a tactical team to enter that house.”

Also Friday, a criminal complaint supporting Sepulveda’s arrest on a federal charge of methamphetamine trafficking cites wire-tapped phone conversations and direct surveillance allegedly showing that Sepulveda and a couple of associates teamed up to sell drugs.

In the seven-page affidavit, filed at U.S. District Court in Fresno, Sepulveda and his associates are accused of using code words such as “eggs” for drugs when they spoke to each other over the phone.

The search warrant that allowed entry into the Sepulveda home remained sealed.

Sepulveda declined to talk about the case against him, referring all questions to his lawyer, John A. Garcia.

“It’s a long story,” Sepulveda said.

Garcia did not immediately return a phone call Friday.

Sepulveda said his family is contemplating legal action against police in the accidental shooting, and was still seeking the “right lawyer” to handle that pursuit.

Officer Hawn, who has spent more than 18 of his 21 year’s on Modesto’s police force with the SWAT team, remained on paid leave pending the outcome of ongoing and parallel investigations by his own department and the county district attorney’s office.

SAN FRANCISCO – A pair of surgeons affiliated with Stanford University are under investigation by the FBI to determine if they have committed fraud in Medicare billings or fudged accounts of surgical procedures for medical journals.

The FBI is investigating brothers Camran and Farr Nezhat after the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that they had allegedly misreported in journal articles written in the early 1990s.

A doctor interviewed by the FBI earlier this week told the newspaper that the probe’s focus is on how those articles in question may contain information matching that in the Medicare billings under scrutiny.

The FBI is also apparently curious whether data in the articles was fabricated in a way that may have drawn patients across state lines for treatment.

An attorney for the Nezhat brothers was unaware of the FBI investigation and declined further comment.

The Nezhats arrived in Palo Alto in 1993 and worked with several Stanford surgeons. However, the brothers’ account of several ovarian cancer operations was one of several journal articles being audited by Stanford for accuracy.

SAN FRANCISCO – A pair of surgeons affiliated with Stanford University are under investigation by the FBI to determine if they have committed fraud in Medicare billings or fudged accounts of surgical procedures for medical journals.

The FBI is investigating brothers Camran and Farr Nezhat after the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that they had allegedly misreported in journal articles written in the early 1990s.

A doctor interviewed by the FBI earlier this week told the newspaper that the probe’s focus is on how those articles in question may contain information matching that in the Medicare billings under scrutiny.

The FBI is also apparently curious whether data in the articles was fabricated in a way that may have drawn patients across state lines for treatment.

An attorney for the Nezhat brothers was unaware of the FBI investigation and declined further comment.

The Nezhats arrived in Palo Alto in 1993 and worked with several Stanford surgeons. However, the brothers’ account of several ovarian cancer operations was one of several journal articles being audited by Stanford for accuracy.

LOS ANGELES – On the eve of an industry court battle against Napster over free music downloads, the multi-platinum selling punk band The Offspring announced Friday that it would post a single from its new CD on the Internet more than a month before it goes on sale, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Although the band’s Web site touted “Tune in Friday for BIG news about The Offspring’s new album and tour!!” it did not announce a free download.

But the Times reported that record distributor Sony Music Entertainment, The Offspring’s label, has ordered the band to cancel the giveaway, calling it a contractual violation. A call to New York-based Sony before business hours was answered by a recording saying its headquarters opened at 8:45 a.m. EDT.

“The reality is that this album is going to end up on the Internet whether we want it to or not,” singer Dexter Holland told the Times. “So we thought, why don’t we just do it ourselves? We’re not afraid of the Internet.

“We think it’s a very cool way to reach our fans.”

The Orange County-based band and its manager, Jim Guerinot, asked Sony in 1998 if they could put up downloadable MP3 digital sound files of “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)” on their Web site before the song was released to radio stations. Sony opposed the plan and the group abandoned the idea.

But as soon as the tune became a hit, fans began posting and trading unauthorized versions on Napster and other Web sites. At the time, Rolling Stone magazine listed The Offspring as the No. 1 downloaded band nationwide. Wired magazine said 22 million computer users downloaded “Pretty Fly.”

“Digital downloading was not hurting our sales. In fact, it may have been helping,” Holland added, saying his group’s 1998 album, “Americana,” has sold nearly 12 million copies in the United States and overseas even though the hit single “Pretty Fly” was downloaded without permission.

The band’s plan is to offer “Original Prankster,” a single from their album set to hit stores Nov. 14, next Friday, Sept. 22. The download will be available from The Offspring’s Web site, Napster and other online sites, the Times reported.

Each fan who downloads the single and registers an e-mail address will be entered in a $1 million contest. The winner will be announced live on MTV.

The fan database will be used to entice consumers to buy the new CD. Those who buy it will be e-mailed additional album tracks once a month through spring 2001, along with original online animation features. Those who get the CD also will have access to other perks including prime concert seating.

“It’s our way of saying, ‘Hey, we know you could’ve just gotten it for free and we think it’s great that you went out and bought it,”’ Holland said.

But the plan has hit a sour note with Sony.

The band’s action comes just four days before Sony and other record conglomerates go to trial against Napster and its 25 million users. The companies claim Napster, which offers music sharing software, is killing their profits by making music available without compensation to record labels.

“What these industry attorneys fail to realize is that MP3 has replaced sex as the most sought after thing on the Internet,” band manager Guerinot told the Times. “It’s our job to figure out how to market, promote and sell music in cyberspace, not just unplug 25 million potential customers.”

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles police officer was charged Thursday for shooting and wounding an unarmed, elderly motorist in a disagreement over a traffic ticket.

The case is the first criminal filing since the district attorney’s office reactivated its mandatory review of police shootings in response to the Rampart corruption scandal.

The district attorney’s “rollout program” began in 1979 to ensure unbiased investigations of officer-involved shootings throughout Los Angeles County.

The program was eliminated in September 1995 because of budget cutbacks, and reactivated in February.

“This indictment makes it very clear that we are not going to tolerate criminal misconduct by police officers,” said District Attorney Gil Garcetti. “And when there is sufficient evidence, we are going to aggressively prosecute.”

Officer Ronald Orosco, 30, of the Police Department’s 77th Street station, pleaded innocent to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an occupied vehicle. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Motorist Charles Beatty, 66, was shot in the back in the June 14 traffic stop.

Orosco and his partner, Officer Gorgonio Medina, were on patrol when they pulled Beatty over for allegedly crossing the yellow line.

Beatty protested the citation, said Deputy District Attorney Hector Guzman.

“There was a heated argument between Mr. Beatty and the officers. He was saying it wasn’t a good stop and that he’d see them in court,” Guzman said.

Guzman was sent to the scene immediately after the shooting as part of the district attorney’s reactivated “rollout program.”

Beatty was driving away after getting the ticket when Orosco shot at him four times, hitting Beatty once in the back.

Medina never fired his weapon. According to prosecutor Guzman, Medina said Beatty “never raised his hand and never moved toward the officers,” and that the situation had de-escalated before Beatty was shot.

William J. Hadden, Orosco’s defense attorney, declined to comment.

Bail was set at $100,000 for Orosco, who has been with LAPD since 1996.

A pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 4.

Orosco is the second Los Angeles police officer facing charges for an on-duty shooting. Officer Nino Durden, a key figure in the Rampart corruption scandal, has been charged with attempted murder for a 1996 shooting.

The victim in that case allegedly was framed for attacking police and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

The last on-duty shooting that resulted in charges against an LAPD officer was in 1992, but the case was later dismissed.

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered a convicted killer released on parole because he has not received a fair hearing from Gov. Gray Davis’ parole board.

Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz on Thursday ordered Robert Rosenkrantz freed “forthwith” because he “has not received a fair parole hearing and is not likely to at any time in the foreseeable future.”

The state Board of Prison Terms said it would seek an emergency stay of the order with the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.

If the ruling stands, Rosenkrantz will be the second murderer released on parole, despite campaign promises from Davis that no killer would be released on his watch.

The parole board had voted in June to release Rosenkrantz in 2001 but never finalized the decision.

Stoltz’s order for release came after Rosenkrantz’s attorneys asked her to recalculate the 2001 release date.

Rosenkrantz was convicted of the 1985 killing of 17-year-old Steven Redman, one week after Redman had clubbed him with a flashlight and broken his nose. Redman told Rosenkrantz’s father of his son’s homosexuality. Rosenkrantz, then 18, was thrown out of his house.

Rosenkrantz was convicted of second-degree murder. In prison, he earned college degrees and has had a flawless record. He has three job offers and has reconciled with his parents.

Jane Woods, convicted in the 1987 killing of her husband, will be the first murderer released on parole since Davis took office. She is expected to be released later this month.

The same appellate court ruled in Rosenkrantz’s favor last year when the parole board was threatened with contempt of court. The state Supreme Court upheld that decision.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – Alberta Lee grew up a sheltered young woman out of touch with her Asian-American heritage. That would change dramatically when her father, former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, was thrown into solitary confinement.

In the nine months since then, Ms. Lee, a 26-year-old technical writer in San Francisco, has emerged as a graceful, impassioned spokeswoman for her father and for Asian-Americans.

And now, with her father a free man, she wants to go to law school and make a career out of defending others’ rights.

“I think the one stellar person in all this is Alberta. She’s the one to watch. She’s going places,” said John Vance, a safety engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a supporter of Ms. Lee’s father.

This week, Ms. Lee celebrated her father’s freedom after the government dropped all but one of 59 counts alleging he breached national security. Neighbors threw a big backyard welcome-home party for the 60-year-old Taiwan-born scientist, and Ms. Lee brought him cups of tea and introduced him to supporters.

“Before this, I really was kind of going through the motions and didn’t really know what to do with my life,” she said at the party. “I really felt like there was something more important out there for me, but I didn’t know what it was. I think I’ve discovered that now.”

Her coming of age began in 1998 when she began getting worried phone calls from home that her father was being asked to take polygraph tests.

“I was begging him from the first polygraph in December ’98 on to get a lawyer,” she said, adding that her father kept insisting he had done nothing wrong.

Four months later, Lee was fired from Los Alamos, his name was leaked to the media and reporters camped out on the Lees’ front lawn. Ms. Lee said she began calling friends at the nation’s best law schools to find her father an attorney.

Her role as family spokeswoman came by default, she said, explaining that her brother, Chung, was busy with medical school and her mother, Sylvia Lee, was too shy to face the media.

Somewhat reluctantly, she wrote her first statement to the media from a bench outside a federal courtroom.

“I really wanted to communicate to people that there was a family suffering here. That there was a family going through hell. It was a nightmare,” she said. “I wanted to communicate that people should think twice about branding my father so blatantly and that he could possibly be a real man, a real person.”

The investigation has made Ms. Lee “extremely ashamed” of her country, she said. “My dad came here for a better life and a more stable political system and look what’s happened to him,” she added.

His case — which led to allegations that investigators had unfairly singled out her father because of his Chinese background — also forced her from the comfort of her sheltered upbringing, she said.

Neighbors in White Rock, a bedroom community outside Los Alamos where many of the world’s brightest scientists live, said Ms. Lee was a typical American teen-ager who did above-average work in school. But in a community filled with Ph.D.s, her academic record wasn’t remarkable, and she lived in the shadow of her brother, now 28.

“He was on the prom court, homecoming court, he was class president and voted most likely to succeed. I wasn’t any of those,” Ms. Lee said with a laugh. “I really felt like the dorky little sister following her big brother around in high school.”

Ms. Lee said the main tie to her Asian heritage was that she grew up speaking Mandarin Chinese at home.

But Ms. Lee said she has the language level of a 7-year-old, and her Chinese is peppered with English in a combination she calls “Chinglish.”

As a teen-ager, Ms. Lee said, said she and her conservative father clashed, especially when it came to popular American culture.

“I couldn’t wear a tank top until I was 18. I had very limited access to boys in high school. My parents were very strict about dating and relationships,” she said. “I think I rebelled when I really wanted to go to a Michael Jackson concert.”

Ms. Lee went away to college at the University of California at Los Angeles, where during what she calls her “identity-search period,” she tried out five majors, including Asian-American studies, before settling on English literature.

With her father back home, Ms. Lee said she hopes to return to a more normal life and set a wedding date. She is engaged to Jack Ribble, a 28-year-old technical writer who lives with her in San Francisco.

She said she wants to take her ability as a spokeswoman and fledgling human rights defender a step further and become a civil rights lawyer.

“I’ve realized there is a need for an Asian-American voice out there to really ask for fairness and justice so that Asian-Americans will be treated like all Americans and not have their loyalties doubted,” she said.

SAN FRANCISCO – Nursing homes found to have harmed or neglected patients will face higher fines – up to $100,000 – under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Gray Davis.

The bill, which Davis signed in the garden of a San Francisco senior center, would raise minimum fines for the most serious violations, such as those that lead to a patient’s death, from the current $5,000 to a range of $25,000 to $100,000.

Less serious violations will be raised to the range of $2,000 to $20,000, from the current minimum of $1,000.

“All of us know we are living in wonderfully prosperous times and we have our parents to thank for that,” Davis said. “They fought wars and they made investments and we have reaped the dividends. It is time for them to live their sunset years with dignity.”

The bill was authored by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, D-San Francisco, and was supported by nursing home administrators, patient advocates and caregivers’ associations, who called it a good start toward improving the state’s nursing facilities.

Shelley said he became interested in nursing home laws five years ago after his mother had a stroke and he had to find a facility to care for her. He introduced Thelma Shelley, 79, at the bill signing ceremony.

Patient advocate Pat McGinnis said she appreciated the state’s efforts, but doubted that the increased fines would deter abuse at nursing homes, since the real issue was a shortage of nursing staff.

“I approach this bill with some ambivalence. We’re certainly happy about the bill in some respects. There are some wonderful rights for residents,” said McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reforms. “We don’t want to punish nursing homes, we want to stop the pattern of bad behavior.”

Under the new law, the Department of Health Services will have to investigate suspected violations within five days. If the violation involves the threat of imminent death or serious injury the department has 24 hours to investigate.

“What we didn’t get in the bill – which the governor is going to have to deal with – is staffing ratios. We got a study instead. We don’t need another study, even the department knows that,” she said.

Davis vetoed a similar Shelley measure last year because it would have required nursing homes to increase staffing. The bill signed Thursday states that the Legislature wants staffing levels raised by 2004, but it doesn’t require nursing homes to do so.

The bill provides incentives to nursing homes to pay fines promptly. Those that pay within 30 days would get a 35 percent reduction in the fine. Currently, that 35 percent reduction applies if the fine is paid within 15 days.

The measure also would allow the state Department of Health Services to put a nursing home on probation if it has accrued $35,000 in federal fines.

Davis signed several other bills relating to elder care Thursday, including measures that will improve geriatric education at various University of California campuses, strengthens protections for the elderly who purchase financial products and requires nursing homes that advertise that they specialize in Alzheimer’s Disease to have specifically trained staff.

The current state budget includes $371 million for elderly care, including increased staff training, facility improvements and tax credits for long term health care.

NEWARK, N.J. – Two lawsuits filed this week accuse the makers of the drug Ritalin and the American Psychiatric Association of encouraging overdiagnosis of behavioral disorders in children to boost sales of the drug.

Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. and the American Psychiatric Association promoted the belief that a large number of children need to take Ritalin for attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the lawsuits filed in New Jersey and California allege.

A similar suit against the East Hanover, N.J.-based maker of the drug and the American Psychiatric Association was filed earlier this year in Texas. The latest suits were filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Hackensack and in San Diego federal court by some of the same attorneys who filed huge lawsuits against gun makers and the tobacco industry.

Novartis and Ciba-Geigy Corp., which produced Ritalin before it merged to form Novartis in 1996, also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to an organization of members with attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder, the lawsuits say.

And the companies and the American Psychiatric Association worked together to include the diagnosis of the two disorders and list it in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980, creating a huge market for the drug, the lawsuits say.

The companies released misleading sales literature about Ritalin’s effectiveness, “without ever advising ... that Ritalin usage would not stimulate or improve academic performance and/or have any long-term effect on the symptoms associated with ADD or and/or ADHD,” the California lawsuit says.

Novartis released a statement Friday calling the charges “unfounded and preposterous” and noted that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been recognized by medical experts worldwide.

The American Psychiatric Association also denied the allegations.

“The APA will defend itself vigorously by presenting a mountain of scientific evidence to refute these meritless allegations and we are confident that we will prevail,” the association said in a statement.

Between 4 percent and 12 percent of school-age children — about 3 million, mostly boys — are believed to have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The symptoms of short attention span, impulsive behavior and difficulty sitting still are also associated with youthful rambunctiousness, which has raised questions of whether youngsters are being overmedicated.

Congressional hearings recently examined whether Ritalin, a brand name for the stimulant methylphenidate, is overprescribed for the disorders. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued its first guidelines earlier this year for diagnosing the disorders, stating that a child must show symptoms in two settings for at least six months.

The lawsuits, filed on behalf of boys who took the drug in both New Jersey and California, say Ciba-Geigy Corp. began a conspiracy to boost the Ritalin market in the mid-1950s, leading to the creation of the ADD diagnosis in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. In 1987, the diagnosis was expanded to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The lawsuits say that the drug’s makers gave $748,000 to the California advocacy group Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder between 1991 and 1994 to help promote Ritalin sales.

SACRAMENTO – California HMOs will be required to let HIV-positive patients get standing referrals to doctors with expertise in treating AIDS under a bill signed by the governor this week.

While HMOs are required to have specialists for many conditions, from allergies to urology, the treatment of HIV and AIDS isn’t a certified specialty yet.

But AIDS activists say finding a doctor who has expertise in treating HIV is necessary because of the complex health problems and treatment regimes needed for those infected.

“Anyone who has a relationship with an HMO knows how difficult it is to navigate the system to get a referral to a specialist. For people with HIV, any delay in getting proper care from a specialist can be fatal,” said Cesar Portillo of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the sponsor of the bill.

Portillo said he believes that California’s law is the first to direct HMOs to use HIV/AIDS specialists. Other states have used “special needs” provisions in the law to require health plans to use HIV/AIDS specialists, he said.

The California Association of Health Plans supported the bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Martin Gallegos, D-Baldwin Park.

Most of the 36 HMOs that belong to the organization already sent HIV patients to physicians with expertise in that area, spokesman Bobby Pena said.

“There’s a standing definition of what health plans are required to send people to specialists for. This just puts AIDS and HIV patients into that category,” Pena said.

The change in the law shouldn’t cost the HMOs any additional money, since it was the norm for most, he said.

Portillo estimated the bill will ensure proper care for about 20,000 HMO patients infected with HIV or AIDS.

There is a national effort to get HIV acknowledged as a specialty by the AMA, Portillo said.

“You really do need a specialist to prescribe the right combination of prescriptions to the patient and to understand the relatively complex tests to find if that particular treatment is helping that patient,” he said.

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gray Davis has rejected bills that would have required surprise hospital inspections and mandated state agencies to list their reports on the Internet.

Although the bills were among dozens vetoed earlier this week, Davis’ office delayed announcing the actions until Friday. Davis is still facing upward of 900 bills to sign, veto or let become law without his signature.

The delay in announcing the governor’s decisions was prompted in part by the large number of bills, his spokesman said.

“We’re getting a flood of bills,” said Roger Salazar. “It’s a huge task to get through so many bills. It’s time consuming and taxing”

Jim Knox of California Common Cause said the delay in announcing Davis’ actions was frustrating but not unexpected with the large number of bills being sent to him.

“Our main concern is the legislative process that allows hundreds of bills to be heard the last night of the session without hearings. That sort of process invites shenanigans,” Knox said.

The list of 42 vetoes provided Friday doesn’t include a bill by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, D-Davis, which was vetoed Tuesday, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Thomson’s bill would have required the state Department of Health Services to make unannounced inspections at hospitals.

In a veto letter filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Davis said Thomson’s bill “may have merit,” but he objected to a provision requiring the Department of Health Services to make federal certification documents available to the public.

Thomson wasn’t available for comment.

Health care workers supported the bill, saying current hospital inspections are scheduled months in advance, giving administrators plenty of time to conceal violations.

“This is the key to enforcing safe patient care standards,” said Maura Kealey of the Service Employees International Union, which represents nurses and other health care workers. “Without it, we simply don’t know whether violations are being caught and, once caught, if they are being corrected.”

She said the union was surprised by the governor’s rejection.

“This administration has a good record of protecting nursing home residents,” she said.

Davis also vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Lou Papan, D-Millbrae, which would have required state agencies to list any reports they have done on the Internet.

Davis said the legislation was too confusing to implement and didn’t spell out “how the public is to access the reports.”

Jay and Patricia Meyer want to build a 26-room hotel on their property on Shattuck Avenue at Vine Street.

But that would mean razing structures on the property the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated as “structures of merit.”

So the Meyers are taking their case to the City Council Tuesday. If they can convince the council to overturn the designation of the property at 1525 Shattuck Ave., known as the James L. Swink house, they’ll be able to build the hotel-retail complex they have proposed.

The Meyers did not return Daily Planet phone calls Thursday.

A public hearing on the building is set for Tuesday’s council meeting. At a subsequent meeting, the council will make a decision on whether to uphold the building’s historical designation or overturn it.

The Swink house, a Colonial Revival architectural style home built in 1903, and an adjacent cottage built two years later, along with the connecting garden, were declared a local structure of merit by the Landmarks Commission in May. Neighborhood supporters of the landmarks designation collected signatures of 722 people opposed to the demolition. They are mostly area neighbors.

A structure of merit is one that “is not itself one of distinction, but one that adds to the fabric of the neighborhood,” explained Landmarks Commissioner Becky O’Malley.

“It’s a structure that keeps the flavor of what the area was like when it was first developed.”

On March 8, the city received an application to demolish the structures and on April 3, the Landmarks Commission set the designation proposal for a May 1 public hearing.

Following testimony at the hearing, the commission voted 5-2, with two abstentions to designate the Swink house, cottage and garden as a structure of merit, thus staying the demolition. O’Malley said the sheer number of people signing the petition was “remarkable.”

On the other hand, Commissioner Jeff Eichenfield said at the May 1 meeting that, although the history of the property was interesting, the designation could apply to many houses in Berkeley.

Not every house in town deserves to be designated a structure of merit, he said.

The point was also made that commercial storefronts added to the property more than half a century after the house and cottage were built, may take away some of the historical quintessence of the grounds.

City Councilmember Dona Spring said she supports preserving the historic character of the area.

“As much as possible, we should hang on to these (historical buildings),” she said, “The area is one of the few historic commercial districts. We really lose part of our character when we lose those structures.”

Saturday, Sept. 16

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Raise a healthy garden

1 - 5 p.m.

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo Ave.

Discover approaches to beautiful landscaping that conserve water, minimize chemicals and manage pests and weeds in the least-toxic way. Led by Tanya Drlik of Bio-Integral Resource Center, the workshop is followed by an optional garden tour.

$15 general/ $10 Ecology Center members

To register, call 559-8701 x233

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizens Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements.

Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Contact: BCA Co-chair Linda Olivenbaum at (510) 652-1206

Call 549-0816

Nude and Breast Freedom Parade

noon

People’s Park, between Dwight Way and Haste Street

Celebrate being exposed to each other’s bare bodies in acts of friendship and naked abandon, in dance, song, frolic, rituals and street theater, with the X-plicit Players. , starts at noon at People’s Park and continues up Telegraph.

www.xplicitplayers.com

848-1985.

“Whose Media? Our Media!”

7:30 p.m.

Unitarian Fellowship

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)

A forum and discussion on independent media with speakers including: Dennis Bernstein of KPFA, Andrea Buffa of Media Alliance, Steve Dunifer of Free Radio Berkeley and DeeDee Halleck of Paper Tiger TV.

549-0732, www.indybay.org

Monday, Sept. 18

Young Adult Free Computer Literacy Class

6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (Mondays and Wednesdays)

1730 Oregon St.

Get a basic understanding of word processing, spreadsheets, software and hardware. Classes are open to adults and dedicated students, 15 years and older. Space is limited but still available. Classes began September 11 and will run for 11 weeks. 644-6226

Social Dance

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst/MLK Jr. Way

644-6107

Traffic Calming Workshop

6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis St.

Come share your ideas about traffic calming in Berkeley. Review and provide input on a “tool box” of measures that could be implemented on local streets.

Decide whether these proposals could help Berkeley achieve reasonable traffic speeds and volumes.

More information and copies of the Program and Toolbox contact:

Nathan Landau, Senior Planner, City of Berkeley at 705-8136

Tuesday, Sept. 19

Lesbian and Gay Group Discussion Meeting

2 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst/MLK Jr. Way

644-6107

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Recreation Subcommittee of the Parks and Recreation Commission

7 p.m.

John Hinkle Park

Southampton Ave. between San Diego Rd. and Somerset Pl.

Discussions will focus on future plans for the John Hinkle Clubhouse.

The meeting will be held in the Boy Scout Hut in the park.

Contact: Recreation Programs Administrator, Madalyn Law at 644-6530

Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers Support Group

1:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst/MLK Jr. Way

644-6107

Thursday, Sept. 21

Hearing to terminate the

Conditional Order for

Abatement for Pacific Steel

Casting Co.

9:30 a.m.

Bay Area Air Quality management District

939 Ellis St. 7th Floor Board Room

San Francisco

415-749-4965

Micropower Broadcasting

Celebration

7:30 p.m.

Unitarian Fellowship

1924 Cedar (at Bonita)

Celebrate seven years of a grassroots media movement and struggle to reclaim broadcast airwaves. An evening of music, speakers and a showing of the documentary, “Free Radio.”

$5-25 donation requested, benefits Free Radio Berkeley IRATE

549-0732, www.freeradio.org

Learn to build FM transmitters

10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

2547 Eighth St., Unit 24 (enter at bay #3)

Free Radio Berkeley presents a series of hands-on micopower broadcasting workshops. Among topics they will be discussing are fundamentals of micropower broadcasting and basic antenna construction.

549-0732, www.freeradio.org

Friday, Sept. 22

Point Reyes Nature Center, Earthquake Trail Trip

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way

$18 per person

644-6107

“Mail Art: Perspectives of Deaf Culture”

8:30 - 11 p.m.

Capoeira Arts Cafe

2026 Addison St.

Celebrate the opening of this community art project sponsored by Vista Community College’s American Sign Language program and the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission. The show highlights the parallels between mail artists and the Deaf community.

Contact: Nancy Cayton at (510) 981-2872

Web and Internet media workshops

10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

New College

777 Valencia St.

San Francisco

Free Radio Berkeley presents workshops on the basics of web and streaming media, digital audio and video editing.

549-0732, www.freeradio.org

“A Long Way from Tipperary”

7:30 p.m.

Sanctuary of First Congregational Church of Berkeley

2345 Channing Way

John Dominic Crossan discusses his new book, “A Long Way from Tipperary,” and how his life experience has led him to a more complex, sophisticated faith.

A convention of micropower broadcasters, media activists and community radio aiming to expand a national campaign for the liberation of the broadcast airwaves.

549-0732, www.freeradio.org

Sunday, Sept. 24

“First Steps in Finding your Family History”

Brunch 10:30 a.m., lecture 11 a.m.

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center

1414 Walnut St.

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others

848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Sign Leonard Peltier’s birthday card

1 - 5 p.m.

Peoples Park

Bring drums and food for a potluck as the Peltier Action Coalition and All Nation Singers celebrate Leonard Peltier’s 56th birthday.

More information: 464-4534

Hands-on Bicycle Repair Clinic

11 a.m. - noon

Recreational Equipment, Inc.

1338 San Pablo Ave.

Come learn how to fix that pesky flat tire right from one of REI’s bike technicians. Just bring your bike; tools will be provided. One in a series of bike repair clinics presented by REI.

Call: 527-7377

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Tuesday, Sept. 26

Reclaim the Streets!

6 p.m.

Berkeley BART station

Bring dancing shoes, bikes, skateboards and costumes and fight globalization. Join in this street party and protest and “reclaim Berkeley from cars, corporations and the police state.”

More Info: 594-4002

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainability and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Tour Mission District Gardens

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

One of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance for this fall. Tour SF’s Mission District and learn about the role of gardens and open space in community planning.

Call: 415-255-3233 to make reservations

Dharma Publishing Showroom Tour

10:30 a.m. - noon

RSVP: Lunch and volunteers only (1 - 3 p.m.)

Dharma House

2910 San Pablo Ave.

RSVP: Lunch and volunteers only (1 p.m. -3 p.m.)

See traditional Tibetan book making, sacred art projects, spinning copper prayer wheels and a video of the work Peace Ceremony in Bodhgaya, India.

More info: 848-4238

Sunday, October 1

Return of the Raptors to Marin

Drivers: 11:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bikers: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Witness the migration of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Includes a hawk talk and banding demonstration and lunch at Rodeo Lagoon. Bike from SF or meet at Hawk Hill. Part of Greenbelt Alliance’s series of free outings.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Monday, Oct. 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

Saturday, Oct. 7

Celebrate Open Garden Day by joining this annual bicycle tour of local community and school gardens. Part of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Houses or Open Hills?

10 a.m.

Experience Black Diamond Mines Regional Park’s ghost towns, coal mines, spectacular views and open space on this hike by the proposed sites of 7,700 homes near Antioch. Cosponsored by Save Mount Diablo. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

“Redesigning Retirement”

9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley (call for exact location)

The UC Berkeley Retirement Center and the Academic Geriatric Resource Program will present retirement as a time of great potential. Participants will take part in interactive workshops dealing with the impact of technology on retirement; community involvement of older adults, among other topics. Prominent experts in the field of aging and retirement will take part in “ask the experts” sessions.

$25. No on-site registration. Register by September 25.

Contact: Shelly Glazer at 642-5461

Sunday, Oct. 8

Surmounting Sunol Peaks

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about local geology while enjoying the panoramic views from three Sunol peaks. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Oct. 15

A Taste of the Greenbelt

1 - 4 p.m.

Los Gatos Opera House

Celebrate the Bay Area’s agricultural and culinary bounty. This benefit features a variety of musical groups, local artists and samples from over 40 local restaurants, farmers, wineries and microbreweries. Proceeds benefit Greenbelt Alliance’s ongoing efforts to protect Bay Area farmlands and open space.

$45 per person; $80 for this event and the Oct. 22 event in SF

1-800-543-GREEN, www.greenbelt.org

Cal Alumni Singles 20th Anniversary Dinner

UC Faculty Club

For reservations call 527-2709 by Oct. 10

Saturday, Oct. 21

A Day on Mt. Tam

9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Come play and hike in San Francisco’s beloved playground. This outing is part of a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Oct. 22

A Taste of the Greenbelt

1 - 4 p.m.

Presidio’s Golden Gate Club

Greenbelt Alliance brings the farm to the city in this celebration of the Bay Area’s agricultural and culinary bounty. Featured are samples from over 40 local restaurants, farmers, wineries, microbreweries. Also featured are live music and local artwork. The event benefits Greenbelt Alliance’s ongoing efforts to protect Bay Area farmlands and open space.

$45 per person

1-800-543-GREEN, www.greenbelt.org

Saturday, Oct. 28

Pedaling the Green City

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Saturday, Nov. 4

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Saturday, Nov. 11

Moonlight on Mt. Diablo

1 - 10:30 p.m.

Hike up the Devil’s Mountain by daylight, catch a glorious sunset and hike back by the light of the moon. One in a series of free outing organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Nov. 12

Views, Vines and Veggies

9:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Climb Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park and peer down upon the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Then please your palate at the Landmark Winery and visit Oak Hill organic vegetable and flower farm. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Saturday, Nov. 18

S.F. Stairs and Peaks

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Begin the day with a visit to the farmer’s market, then meander up the stairways and streets of Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. Then up Russian Hill, descending to Fisherman’s Wharf for a ride back on the new historic streetcar line. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233

Sunday, Nov. 19

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Mt. Madonna & Wine

Hike through evergreen forests and visit the remains of a 19th century estate, then finish the day with a visit to Kruse Winery. One of many free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: (415) 255-3233 for reservations

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting

6 p.m.

2022 Blake St.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

Berkeley claims to be a city friendly to alternative transportation, but the streets prove otherwise. For 3 years, I biked around Pasadena and the surrounding cities without a single incident. In the 6 months that I have been commuting by bicycle the 2 mile stretch from Ashby station to campus, I have had four flat tires caused by glass rubble from smashed windshields, shards of metal from construction, and broken bottles that have not been cleaned up. I live in a neighborhood full of children who bike around without helmets, and I’m afraid of the danger the debris poses to them.

Berkeley has a serious problem with the cleanliness of its streets.

There is a real danger to cyclists, not to mention the added cost of replacing inner tubes once a month and the environmental impact of discarding the unusable, unrecyclable rubber. City Council candidates (and incumbents!), please consider the needs of cyclists when constructing your platforms. The danger is real.

Cynthia Gong

Berkeley

District 5 candidate doesn’t understand housing crisis

Editor:

Carrie Olson’s comments about the Gaia building and her alternative plan for housing students indicate how little Ms. Olson understands the housing crisis that exists in Berkeley and how unfit she would be to serve as a leader of this city. The Gaia building will provide housing for approximately 91 households – or approximately 180 students, professors, and downtown workers in the heart of Berkeley. Twenty percent of these dwellings will be set aside for low-income households at below market rates, at no cost to the city’s Housing Trust Fund.

Unlike most of the city’s existing housing stock, all of the units are fully accessible to people with disabilities. Residents of the Gaia building will shop in downtown establishments and add vitality from the early morning to the late evening.

Their proximity to BART, downtown jobs and campus ensures that they will accomplish the vast majority of their daily tasks on foot, by bike or via transit. For those occasional trips where a vehicle is required, the Gaia building will be the first building in the United States that has an in-house car-share program for the residents. In addition, it will also have a cultural center that will, it is hoped, provide a venue for artists, writers, poets, and other local and national talent.

Many people in Berkeley welcome this attempt to address Berkeley’s housing crisis and enrich the civic life of the downtown. Ms. Olson attacks it.

Ms. Olson’s plan, on the other hand, offers none of the benefits of downtown buildings like Gaia. Her plan extolling the conversion of single family homes in our residential neighborhoods into apartments is exactly the solution that Berkeley’s residents do not want.

By converting homes and adding multi-family apartments in single family neighborhoods, Ms. Olson’s solution would exacerbate neighborhood parking problems.

These scattered residents, many living away from the city’s major transit corridors, would have no option but to increase traffic throughout the city. Affordable housing in Berkeley should best be located downtown and on main thoroughfares, close to transit and shopping. Presidential candidate Al Gore and leaders throughout the country are promoting and embracing this “Smart Growth,” not deriding it.

Carrie Olson states in her campaign website that she lives in her parents’ classic brown-shingle home in North Berkeley – an area that recently witnessed the sale of a 1,563 square foot 3 –bedroom, one-bath house for $787,000 – $503 per square foot.

Not everyone is so fortunate, and as the recent press can attest, thousands of people in Berkeley cannot find affordable housing, or housing at any price. (Berkeley is the only city in the Bay Area to have actually lost housing in the past 20 years.)

In her campaign website, she longs for a quieter time, a time when “Life in Berkeley in the ‘50’s was really like those old TV shows.”

Really. I hate to break the news to Ms. Olson, but in Berkeley in the year 2000 is a vastly different place from “Berkeley in the ‘50’s.” It has different problems, demanding innovative solutions. It needs leaders that can offer something more than a wistful return to the era of Ozzie and Harriet.

In 1765, Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi wrote his complex political and psychological fairy tale “The Green Bird” in an attempt to resuscitate the dying art form of commedia dell’arte.

Commedia dell’arte, which even then had been around for 200 years, is a theater form rooted in broad stylized boffo comedy, masks, stock characters, and improvisation by actors around a loose story scenario.

On Wednesday, Berkeley Repertory Theater opened a newly commissioned translation and adaptation of the play that mixes aspects of the commedia style with the Japanese popular theater form Kabuki, in a synthesis that might be called "Kabuki dell'arte."

Produced as a world premiere by Berkeley Rep, this production includes the participation of several artists from Minneapolis's renowned Theatre de La Jeune Lune, which specializes in stage productions containing stylized physical performances and striking visual concepts.

In director/designer Dominique Serrand's staging, the playing area is a large sandbox, backed by vertical and horizontal beams that suggest Japanese architecture.

The poet/narrator of the play Brighella (also Serrand) slowly emerges vertically up through the sand to set the production's tone of visual surprise.

Costumer Sonya Berlovitz has dressed her characters in a colorful mix of Middle Ages western and Japanese costuming, but with a satirical slant, and sometimes bawdy touches.

For example, sausage-makers Smeraldina (the hilarious Sarah Agnew) and Truffaldino (Geoff Hoyle) have grotesque butt-cracks (fakes ones, it turns out) showing on the backsides of their costumes.

So this is going to be an evening of fun, in a story that tells of real human search, conflict and dilemma, but in a framework loaded with silliness.

Steven Epp's adaptation – a mix of the sublime, the ridiculous and the scatological–includes philosophical speculation, psychobabble, dot-com jokes, and many references to the bowels.

Most of the acting is broadly comedic and over the top. A percussionist sits above the stage for the duration of the show, banging drums and sticks to punctuate the play's action.

“The Green Bird” is a long, complicated political and psychological fantasy that covers a lot of ground.

In the set-up, Queen Ninetta (Rachelle Mendez) gives birth to twins while King Tartaglia (Vincent Gracieux, in one of the evening’s sturdiest and funniest performances) is away at war.

But the king’s evil and jealous mother Tartagliona (Brian Baumgartner in grotesque drag) orders the children killed and the wife buried alive.

The twins survive by a fluke, raised by two sausage-makers. They set out as young adults on a magical and dangerous quest of self-discovery.

Along the way, they meet an enormous serpent and a giant talking head (former Blake Street Hawkeye Robert Ernst).

A mysterious green bird (Michael Edo Keane) weaves through the story and becomes the vehicle for discovery and, resolution. Justice prevails, and the story has a happy ending.

Much of “The Green Bird,” is about parent and child conflict, and about emotional coming of age. Often it makes its points on a subconscious, intuitive level, using its uniquely theatrical language. Typically, the plot turns on moments of visual stage magic.

But having said that, for much of Wednesday’s opening night, the production of “The Green Bird” felt out of sync.

The staging and the story seemed to run self-consciously on two separate tracks, and didn’t merge in a single focus until the second half.

Some of this may be due to the very complicated technical aspects of the show not being quite up to speed on opening night. Perhaps some of this feeling will smooth out as the Berkeley Rep run progresses. Although “The Green Bird” begins as a fairly simple-sounding fairy tale, the story quickly gets stranger and stranger, darker and darker, and more and more complicated.

At it’s best, this Kabuki dell’arte production expresses the illogical and contradictory nature human experience on a non-rational, intuitive level.

Be warned about the dangers of getting what your dream for, this production tells us. Human beings do not fully understand the power of dreams.

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch.

An exhibit of rare and exquisite works featuring more than forty mandalas and related objects including sculptures and models of sacred spaces.

“Hans Hoffmann,” open-ended.

An exhibit of paintings by Hoffmann which emphasizes two experimental methods the artist employed: the introduction of slabs or rectangles of highly saturated colors and the use of large areas of black paint juxtaposed with intense oranges, greens and yellows.

The Asian Galleries

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended.

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended.

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended.

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

642-0808.

UC Berkeley Museum of

Paleontology

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing.

“Pteranodon,” ongoing.

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California.

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum.

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing.

This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe.

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org.

Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery

942 Clay St., Oakland

625-1350

www.lizabetholiveria.com

Tuesday- Saturday

10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m..

Franklin Williams exhibit through Sept. 30

TRAX Gallery

1306 3rd. St., Berkeley

Mary Law “Altered Ceramic Pots”

Sept 16- Oct. 21

Opening reception: 5- 7 p.m., Sept. 16

For more information or to sign up for the workshop call 526-0279 or e-mail to cone5@aol.com

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes.

Tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

“MIMZABIM!”

Climate Theatre & Subterranean Shakespeare

La Vals Subterraniean 1834 Euclid, Berkeley

Through Oct. 14

Thursday - Saturday 8:00 p.m.

$12, Students $8

Julie Morgan Theatre

Fanny at Chez Panisse

Musical based on the book with opening proceeds going to the Verde Partnership Garden in Richmond.

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh

Through Oct. 15

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space.

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour.

Free. University of California, Berkeley.

486-4387

Berkeley City Club Tours

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle.

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon to 4 p.m.

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley.

848-7800

Golden Gate Live Steamers

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org.

Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery

942 Clay St., Oakland

625-1350

www.lizabetholiveria.com

Tuesday- Saturday

10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m..

Franklin Williams exhibit through Sept. 30

TRAX Gallery

1306 3rd. St., Berkeley

Mary Law “Altered Ceramic Pots”

Sept 16- Oct. 21

Opening reception: 5- 7 p.m., Sept. 16

For more information or to sign up for the workshop call 526-0279 or e-mail to cone5@aol.com

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes.

Tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

“MIMZABIM!”

Climate Theatre & Subterranean Shakespeare

La Vals Subterraniean 1834 Euclid, Berkeley

Through Oct. 14

Thursday - Saturday 8:00 p.m.

$12, Students $8

Julie Morgan Theatre

Fanny at Chez Panisse

Musical based on the book with opening proceeds going to the Verde Partnership Garden in Richmond.

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh

Through Oct. 15

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space.

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour.

Free. University of California, Berkeley.

486-4387

Berkeley City Club Tours

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle.

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon to 4 p.m.

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley.

848-7800

Golden Gate Live Steamers

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.

If a spectator walked in off the street into Thursday’s women’s volleyball game at Emery High School, the match they saw was unremarkable on the surface. The St. Mary’s team used better organization and communication to beat the energetic but hapless Emery squad in three straight games.

But looking deeper, this was actually a very good win for St. Mary’s. They were playing their junior varsity squad against Emery’s varsity, and still they handled the older opponents easily.

None of the three games were ever in doubt, as the Panthers dealt the Emery team a 15-6, 15-8, 15-4 setback.

Emery made many more unforced errors in the match, and at times it seemed a challenge for them to just get the ball over the net.

Whenever they won a point or side out, however, they went into choreographed step numbers that put the St. Mary’s celebrations to shame. Appreciate the small victories, apparently.

The St. Mary’s JV was led by Daniella Jimenez, who served for nearly half of the Panther’s points in the match, and the strong net play of Martha Ryan, who drove her spikes over the net with fervor.

The strong back-row play of Keli Yaris helped set up several spikes that seemed to take the life out of the Emery team whenever they made a short run.

St. Mary’s took immediate control of the match in the first game, quickly running the score to 9-4. Emery came back to win the next two points, but wouldn’t score again in the game.

The Panthers ran out to a quick 8-2 lead in the second game, but struggled to put Emery away, as both sides strove to get side outs and keep the other team from scoring. Only after nearly 30 changes of serve did St. Mary’s manage to claim a two-game lead.

Emery seemed dispirited for the last game, and the end came quickly, with Jimenez running off a six-point serving streak on the way to victory.

“I don’t really know why the varsity didn’t play this game, but it was a good experience for our team,” said junior varsity coach Jarrod Willis. “We really handled them well today, I thought.”

The neighbors hate it, the City Council opposed it, an assemblymember is fighting against it – still, the Regents of the University of California voted unanimously Thursday to approve an Environmental Impact Report that permits the university to construct a new three-story building on a five-acre parcel at Oxford Street and Hearst Avenue.

The more-than 80,000 square-foot building would include a 200-space underground parking garage. Its purpose is to temporarily replace campus structures undergoing earthquake retrofit. When the earthquake work is complete, the building will serve as office space.

“It’s really a master-slave relationship,” said a frustrated Councilmember Dona Spring, in whose district the Oxford Tract sits. Spring was one of eight councilmembers who voted in the spring to oppose the project.

Objections of the council and neighbors go beyond the bulky structure, proposed for the tract where there now are low-lying buildings and green houses.

These are part of the College of

Natural Resources.

Spring and her colleagues decry what they see as a major traffic jam that would result from the hundreds of drivers, hoping for a space in the 200-car lot. They further object to the proposed nighttime special-event use of the parking and point to the danger they say will be presented by the crowds of people crossing Oxford Street on their way between the Oxford Tract site and the campus.

The university decision was made Thursday only after listening carefully to speakers from the city, university spokesperson Chuck McFadden said. “They agonized over the decision.”

Misgivings were expressed only by Regent John Davies of San Diego, McFadden said. While voting with the others, Davies told his fellow regents that he understood the feelings of those who had spoken. “He felt empathy for them,” McFadden said.

The regents carefully considered the alternatives and concluded that putting the building on this piece of university property was the best plan, he said. “It wasn’t a question of cavalierly disregarding the representatives of the city.”

Spring said as the university encroaches on the city, it ought to pay its fair share. “They do not pay taxes for infrastructure – for fire, police, sewers,” she said. “The burden falls on the city of Berkeley taxpayers.”

Assemblymember Dion Aroner tried to intervene in the spring, by getting a bill passed to delay the funding the university would use to construct the new facility. “The governor blue-penciled that,” said Aroner aide Hans Hemann. Aroner still hopes to bring the city and university together on the project, he said.

Spring said she continues to hope the university will modify its plans. The vote “may mean that we have to start looking at legal options,” she said.

With the Cal football team coming off a close win against a decent opponent, this Saturday would be ideal for a walkover, a game against Ball State or Rice. Even a weak team from a major conference, say the Big Ten, would be a confidence booster for a team that is still looking to define itself.

Almost any other year, Illinois would be that type of opponent. From 1996 to 1998, they went just 5-28, including an 0-11 season in ’97. They were the major-conference patsy of everyone’s dreams.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they seem to be catching Illinois at the peak of an upswing following an 8-4 record last year, topped off with an appearance in the Micronpc.com Bowl. They have a rising star in quarterback Kurt Kittner, a double threat at tailback and a dominating offensive line to go with outstanding speed on defense. They have blown out their first two opponents 84-19. And none of the experts are giving Cal much of a chance to win the game.

But considering the quality of the teams the Fighting Illini have beaten (Middle Tennessee State and San Diego State) and the strides taken by the Cal offense last week during their 24-21 victory over well-regarded Utah, this game could be an upset in the making. In fact, the Bears somewhat resemble last year’s Illinois squad. Kittner was a sophomore coming off of a disappointing first year after being heavily recruited out of high school. The Illini defense was steeped in tradition and helped the team break out of its losing ways, and the offensive skill players responded to Kittner’s improvement to win five more games than the previous season.

If Boller can imitate Kittner’s quantum leap from struggling freshman to star sophomore, the Bears are capable of a similar turnaround. And it could all start with a victory over a highly-regarded opponent from a major conference, as Illinois did with upset victories over Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia last year.

Boller won’t have an easy time against the Big Ten power, however. The defense is fast, much faster than the Utah defense Boller picked apart last week.

An experienced defensive line will look to pressure him all game long, so Joe Igber and Saleem Muhammed need to hit for some big gains early to ease the pass rush. But if Reed Diehl can’t play, look for the Illini to go after sophomore center Nolan Bluntzer, who would be starting his first game for Cal.

The Cal defense has a no-win situation on its hands. Do they try and stop Kittner, allowing tailbacks Rocky Harvey and Antoineo Harris to run free, or do they stuff the running game and challenge Kittner to beat them?

Harvey and Harris have both rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the first two games. While that type of success isn’t likely against a strong Cal defensive line, they provide a two-headed threat that can take the pressure off of darkhorse Heisman candidate Kittner.

But make no mistake, Kittner is the star and key to the Illini offense. His arm strength has never been questioned, and his reading of defenses has become nearly impeccable, as he threw for 24 touchdowns along with only five interceptions last year.

If Cal’s cornerbacks, Chidi Iwuoma and either Harold Pearson or DeShaun Ward, can lock down on the Illini receivers and make Kittner sit in the pocket, the defensive line will have a chance to sack the immobile quarterback. The linemen must penetrate the very experienced Illinois offensive line that returns all five starters from last season, including Marques Sullivan, whom Carter met at the Playboy pre-season All-American event.

OAKLAND – Ralph Nader, the self-styled “patented underdog, available for license,” was in downtown Oakland Thursday urging unions across the nation to throw their support behind his presidential campaign.

“The AFL-CIO got nothing in return for endorsing Gore,” Nader told a group of union organizers gathered at the California Nurses Headquarters, one of four locals to endorse his campaign. “If you’re too close to one party, you’re taken for granted,” he said.

He called on locals to make their own political endorsements.

“We need a grassroots revolt of locals,” he told the group of more than 40 Bay Area labor organizers. “If you could hear the way Democrats talk about how they maintain their support from labor, it’s disgraceful.”

Nader, the Green Party candidate for president, has emphasized workers’ rights throughout his campaign. He has urged repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, which was adopted 53 years ago to slow the growth of labor unions. He has called for treble damages when companies unfairly fire workers during a union organizing drive.

In June, the California Nurses Association, the largest organization of registered nurses in the nation, endorsed Nader, praising his “outspoken stance on behalf of an overhaul of the nation’s health care system and strong advocacy of nurses’ and patients’ rights.”

But it’s been slow going. Since then, only three other locals have followed suit.

Jan Pierce, labor outreach coordinator for Nader’s campaign, however, calls it a good beginning.

“No campaign has a chance if it doesn’t have institutional backing. Each endorsement gives us credibility.

“We have the nurses on the west, the electrical workers on the east, and now we’re trying to fill in between.”

Every local that joins the campaign paves the way for additional locals to break rank with their national representatives, Pierce argued.

“There’s a lot of fear and intimidation out there because the national unions went with Gore. Organized labor is actually quite cocky about their rank and file. My goal is just to get some locals to go public to give others cover to join as well,” Pierce said.

Nader’s speech hit home, when he called for the U.S. to issue a six month notice of withdrawal from the World Trade Organization and North American Free Trade Agreements to protest the loss of “good American jobs” and the degradation of international labor.

Pierce added: “We’ve been promised that NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO deals, would protect American labor. Guess what? They didn’t. To fall in line with the Democrats means ceding good jobs overseas where we can’t compete.”

In town to speak at anti-WTO rallies at San Francisco State and San Jose State, Nader punctuated his meeting with a call to action.

“Labor never got anywhere without being militant,” he told the unionists. “There is something erupting here and in Michigan,” he said.

Though Nader invoked the Chinese labor situation to spur union support, he said he was also aware that anti-Chinese sentiment is a double edged sword in America.

Asked about his opinion of the Wen Ho Lee case, the scientist recently freed from nine months of incarceration, Nader said, “Lee was railroaded, scapegoated. Lee deserves his freedom, and may very well have a law suit against the government.”

Looking very much like the physics professor he once was, Natural Law Party Presidential Candidate John Hagelin took the podium at UC Berkeley’s Valley Life Sciences Building Wednesday to address Alan Ross’ Election 2000 class.

Accompanied by Nat Goldhaber from Oakland, a former CEO of Cybergold, Inc., the two touted their “Natural Law” platform to a room of 200 enthusiastic students.

“Third parties supported

a woman’s right to vote, the abolition of slavery, and advocated ideas that are now taken for granted in today’s public mainstream,” Hagelin said.

The candidate invoked former World Wrestling Federation champion Jesse “The Body” Ventura as a model of third party success.

“Jesse won, with one-fiftieth of his rival party’s budget. It shows that while most third parties die out after their ideas have been co-opted by the political duopoly, we now have an opportunity to do more. We have entered a moment when third party candidates can win seats at the national, state and local level, affect change in policy, and take back democracy from the special interest groups who have stolen it from the people.”

Hagelin, a resident of Iowa, called the two party system a “political duopoly.”

“The Republicans and Democrats strangle third party voices. We can’t wait four more years to have a representative democracy. We need a peaceful revolution at the ballot box today.”

A split in the Reform Party left Hagelin out of the running for $12 million in campaign funds. The Natural Law Party and Pat Buchanan’s coalition splintered the fledgling party once dominated by Ross Perot. A court ruled that Buchanan is the true Reform Party candidate.

But such developments were not discussed at all.

Instead, Hagelin focused on his candidacy, and introduced his running mate, Nat Goldhaber, currently a member of the UC Berkeley Executive Board.

Both men are academics. Hagelin is a quantum physicist with degrees from Harvard, and Goldhaber is a graduate from UC Berkeley with a masters degree in education.

Both are also graduates of Maharishi University. Founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the university teaches a philosophy of natural law, from which the Natural Law Party takes its name. Hagelin explained the principles of the party to the students.

“We want policies in harmony with natural law. Take health care. Now the debate is ‘Who will pay for whose disease?’ which leads to squabbling in a zero sum game that really doesn’t get at the root of health-care problems. We should seek prevention-oriented solutions, that harness the natural laws of life.”

Defining natural law as “sustainable, common sense solutions to human problems” Hagelin added that applying natural law to policy would lead to commensurate compensation for teachers, sustainable agriculture, a foreign policy germane to the post-cold-war world, including no “corporate welfare” for the defense industry, and a crime prevention policy based on decriminalizing non-violent drug offenses.

His most concrete plan was to build a dozen model schools “to showcase what works and what doesn’t.”

“School districts could then pick and choose what works for them at the local level,” he said.

And for the school funding, Hagelin brought up the need for a different set of priorities. “We could give block grants to up the pay of all teachers $10,000 a year just by using the money for 5 B-52 bombers - and I mention the B-52 because it is the kind of obsolete technology that the Pentagon doesn’t even really want anymore.”

With 1,000 candidates on ballots across the nation, Hagelin called his party the fastest growing third party in the nation.

“Issues like global warming, the genetic manipulation of food, the need for sustainable energy, these are not being addressed - and that’s why we have the lowest voter turnout of any democratic nation in the world.”

Blasting the two-party system, Goldhaber added, “We are at an opportune moment for an infectious and irreversible political turning point. We are sick and tired of an unresponsive duopoly. We need to return democracy to the people and make politics relevant to every person in this nation.”

What do these public figures represent for American Jews? Samuel G. Freedman answered this question Wednesday at a lecture on the UC Berkeley campus about his new book, “Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry.”

“This is a decisive moment in shaping the Jewish-American identity,” Freedman said. “I think these things are wonderful, but can it perpetuate a culture? Is it enough to volt Judaism into the next generation?”

In his new book, Freedman discusses the “civil war” between two strands of Judaism. The conflict, he says, is between the pluralists, the more mainstream Jews who have assimilated into the American culture, and the ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are more conservative and adhere to a literal interpretation of the Torah.

But Freedman said that the divide is not as simple as it might seem. “There are debates within these factions,” he said. “It’s not just the Orthodox Jews vs. pluralists. In my book I wanted to force people to see the humanity of both sides. Even the side they don’t agree with.”

Freedman, who is also a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and author of three previous books, said the idea of his latest book came from his research on Judaism’s history and personal experiences as a Jew. He weaves the debate among American Jews into his narratives about the embroiled Jewish community. The autobiographical part of his book came out of his journey back to the synagogue “at a time when the tribe was tearing each other’s eyes out,” he said.

In “Jew vs. Jew,” Freedman illustrates the Jewish war through a series of real-life stories, from a Cleveland, Ohio suburb battling over the right to build Orthodox schools, to the Yale campus dorms where devout Jews protested the school’s co-ed bathroom policy. The stories stretch from the 1960s to the present and detailed the lives of Jews from the Catskills to Los Angeles.

He said the Jewish divide stemmed from inherent differences in ideology between the two groups. After World War II, the American Jewry was defined by those who had already shed their religious identity before immigrating from Europe. Once they came to America, this group identified Judaism with culture, language, and ethnicity rather than religion, he said. There was also the ultra-Orthodox Jews who did not come by choice, but left Israel as refugees of the Holocaust.

“It came as a shock to everyone that the Orthodox Jews, the 10 to 15 percent minority, built a stronger following than the other group, and there was this resurgence of the orthodoxy,” Freedman said. “There was this Orthodox impulse no one expected to be so vibrant.”

He said Lieberman is an example of a person embattled in that very struggle about Jewish identity. On the one hand, Lieberman is “a unanimously applauded symbol of Jewish achievement,” but, on the other hand, he is an Orthodox Jew accused of “spewing Godspeak” as part of his platform, Freedman said.

“Jews are both proud and worried,” Freedman said. “He’s an observant Jew,…but Jews are worried that if things go awry, we’ll get blamed.”

At the end of his book, Freedman avoided offering any final solution to the Jewish conflict. Instead, he said he wants readers to recognize there are no easy answers to the “agonizing question of what it means to be Jewish.”

Jew Vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry Simon and Schuster, $26.00, Published Aug. 2000.

SAN FRANCISCO — Starting next fall, it will take good grades and good health insurance to get into the University of California.

UC regents voted Thursday to make insurance a mandatory requirement, believed to be the first such requirement by a major U.S. university system.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, regents approved pay raises for top administrators and heard from a noisy contingent of students who briefly disrupted the meeting with their calls for a return of affirmative action admissions.

The insurance issue stemmed from concerns over the estimated 40 percent of undergraduates who have inadequate or no coverage. Twenty-five percent of the system’s annual dropouts are due to medical issues, with a significant portion due to insurance problems, a report found.

The requirement passed by voice vote with little debate, although Regent Judith Hopkinson registered her opposition. Hopkinson said she was worried the requirement would be a financial burden to some.

Students who don’t have their own insurance will be able to buy coverage from their campuses for between $400 and $500 a year. Financial assistance is available for needy students.

The measure was endorsed by the Associated Students of the University of California, but some students have said they think the requirement is too much.

“A lot of students are going to be worried by this because a lot of students can’t afford health insurance,” said Steve Davey, a commissioner in UCLA’s student government.

Davey, who has health insurance, said he understands administrators’ concerns about those who don’t, but considers the new requirement intrusive. “About seven or eight years ago Hillary Clinton tried the same thing on a national scale and people on both sides of the spectrum rejected that idea.”

Michael Drake, UC vice president for health affairs, said campuses will try to help students afford the coverage. But he said the costs of going without health insurance are far greater.

Health insurance is already mandatory for all graduate and international students at UC and for undergraduates at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Officials from those campuses said students have welcomed the coverage. In other business, regents approved annual salary increases of between 3.5 percent and 4.3 percent for top administrators. The raise takes President Richard C. Atkinson’s pay from $337,300 to $349,100.

This year’s state budget provides an increase of about 3 percent for faculty. The staff employee rate is 3.5 percent, but that will be augmented by an extra $19 million. Staff making $40,000 or less will get an extra 2 percent and those making $40,000 to $80,000 will get an extra 1 percent.

Before taking the pay raise vote, regents heard from a number of speakers about affirmative action. The board voted in July 1995 to stop considering race or gender when evaluating applicants, a policy that was endorsed by the 1996 passage of Proposition 209, which dismantled most state affirmative action programs.

Some speakers Thursday urged regents to stick with their policy on the grounds that ultimately students are better off earning a place through academic merit alone.

But most of the speakers said affirmative action is necessary to compensate for inequalities in the public education system and to provide diversity on UC campuses. Since the new policies took effect in fall 1998, the percentage of black, Hispanic and American Indian undergraduate enrolled at UC has dropped from 22 percent to 16 percent, even though high school graduation rates for those groups increased slightly.

LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority negotiated with its bus and rail drivers Thursday as a midnight strike deadline loomed, raising the prospect of 450,000 people left without a means to get to work or move around the region.

Talks with the United Transportation Union, one of three unions involved in the dispute, focused on work rule changes as the 12:01 a.m. Friday deadline neared, said MTA spokesman Barry Liden at the negotiation site in Pasadena.

“We don’t think there’s any reason for a strike,” Liden said.

At nightfall, the MTA was reviewing the most recent UTU proposal.

“At this point, unless we can make substantial progress in the next several hours, I’d say the likelihood of a strike is very likely,” UTU spokesman Goldy Norton said.

The main issue was the MTA’s call for a four-day work week for some drivers. Union officials said it would force drivers to work 10 hours a day, spread over 12 hours, without overtime. The transit agency said it was a needed cost-saving move.

A strike by drivers, mechanics and clerks would shut down about 200 bus routes and three Metro Rail commuter train and subway lines.

All sides agreed that a strike would it would be devastating for nearly a half-million daily riders. Nearly 68 percent have household incomes under $15,000 per year, and nearly three-quarters are black or Hispanic, according to the MTA.

“If there was a bus strike, I don’t have money for a cab — that’s $30, $40,” said Jimmy Jackson, 36, who rides a bus and the Metro Red Line from South Central Los Angeles to his $300-a-week job as an auto detailer at a Sherman Oaks Mercedes-Benz dealership.

During a nine-day strike in 1994, Los Angeles County employment dropped by 5,000 jobs, said Jack Kyser of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

A short walkout wouldn’t have much impact, but a long strike could affect a range of businesses whose low-paid workers rely on mass transit, Kyser said. An upsurge in welfare applicants would also be possible if the working poor were unable to get to jobs.

Some companies made contingency plans. The downtown Bonaventure Hotel, with more than 750 employees, distributed the number of a commuter hotline and planned to try to link up workers to share rides.

Not all public transportation was at risk. At least 17 suburbs have municipal bus lines, and the Metrolink commuter train system that runs between Los Angeles and outlying Southern California cities is separate from the MTA.

The MTA planned to use privately contracted drivers on five heavily used bus routes, but the MTA said some of those drivers affiliated with the Teamsters union might honor picket lines. MTA supervisors are unionized and can’t be used as replacements.

The Los Angeles region is far less susceptible to direct impacts from interruption of public transit than other major cities.

Only about 7 percent of Los Angeles County commuters use buses and trains while in New York City “more people use public transit than cars,” said Al O’Leary, a spokesman for New York City Transit.

However, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents 800,000 workers, said it would support transit workers.

From the saltboxes that dot the northeastern shoreline to California’s ornate Victorians, wood shakes and shingles are part of America’s past. Whether the traditional square butt or the multipatterned fancy-cut variety, it’s hard to beat the beauty of this natural, textured siding.

Historically, shakes and shingles were made from many types of wood, including cedar, redwood, oak, cypress, pine spruce and fir. Although they are still made from a variety of species – particularly on some of the more sophisticated architectural restoration jobs – cedar is the most common wood used for today’s shakes and shingles.

Shingles are machine-sawn into smooth, tapered boards that range in size from about 3 or 4 inches wide to more than 16 inches wide. Shakes, on the other hand, are hand-split with a steel-bladed froe, then sawn in half. This gives them their rough surface and flat, smooth back.

The traditional way to install shakes and shingles is called single coursing. Each piece of siding is attached so that it covers about half of the one below it.

Only two nails are used to secure each shake or shingle and are spaced so that the following course covers them. This is the common way homes were shingled on the East Coast.

Siding with double courses is the way to achieve deeper shadow lines and wide weather exposures, from 12 inches to 16 inches, depending on the shingle size you use. It can also be more economical, since a lesser-grade product is used for the undercoursing that is fastened with one nail at the top of each shake or shingle.

There are two ways to do this. The more common way is to apply the exposed course one-half inch lower than the under course using two nails placed about 2 inches above the bottom edge and three-quarters of an inch from each edge. In this type of installation, the nails will be visible, which most people consider to be unacceptable. If you are trying to match coursing that’s been applied this way, then by all means, use the surface nailing. But, generally speaking, it’s a better idea to always plan your work so the subsequent course will cover up the nails.The other way to apply double coursing was common on the West Coast in the early 1900s, and is a way to achieve even deeper shadow lines. You start out with the basic double course at the bottom of the wall (as you would with any job), then lay a single row of shingles 4 inches above this. Lay another row only 1 inch above the butt line. Skip 4 inches and repeat. Nails are placed about three-quarters of an inch from the outside edges and are covered by each ensuing row.

Nails that are aluminum, double-dipped galvanized or stainless steel (the most expensive choice) work well on cedar. Don’t be tempted to use plain steel nails. The natural reaction of iron oxide with the cedar and water will create ugly dark stains on the siding. When nailing shakes or shingles, don’t push the head too far into the wood. It may crack. Rather, the heads should be just flush with the siding surface.

Bay laurel is native to the Mediterranean region, where temperatures rarely dip below freezing. If planted in a pot, though, this tree can be grown almost anywhere. The potted tree can decorate the house in winter, the terrace in summer, and provide fresh bay leaves for soups and other dishes year-round.

The ideal for this potted plant is to try to mimic the conditions along the Mediterranean. There, winters are cool and moist, summers are sunny and dry. Grow the plant in a well-drained potting mix and let it bask in abundant sunlight during the warmer months. Bay laurel is a rich feeder, so it also needs abundant fertilization during this period.

Winter will be difficult on bay laurel because, although it tolerates low indoor light, the plant dislikes hot, dry air at this time of the year. Cool rooms are moister than warm rooms in winter, so the cooler the room the better. A bright window in a barely heated basement is the closest one can get to a Mediterranean winter indoors in cold regions.

Although bay laurels grow 50 feet tall, they can be kept to 5 feet or less in a pot. The trees can be trained to any number of shapes such as pyramid, cone or globe.

You could replace it with a new one, but that’s not an easy proposition. Most tubs are set in an alcove or corner, lapped by the flooring and wall finishes to create a watertight seal and tied down in at least two places by plumbing. If you’re ready for a full-scale bathroom remodel, replacing the tub makes sense. If you’re not, you’re looking at creating a real mess and spending $2,000 to $3,000 for little visual change.

Two better options are available to price-conscious homeowners with tubs in need of a facelift: tub liners and tub refinishing. Both add years of life to an existing tub at a fraction of the cost of full-scale replacement – and in a fraction of the time.

Tub Liners

“Some people collect art, others collect old cars, but my boss collects tubs,” says John Heckenlaible, marketing director for Re-Bath, a Mesa, Ariz.-based company that has been making tub liners since the 1970s.

With these old tubs, reliner companies create exact molds, which they use to make liners that fit tubs perfectly, wherever they’re installed and whatever shape they’re in. Here’s how the process works: A local installer sends precise measurements and photographs of the tub to company headquarters. The company identifies the model, pulls it off the shelf and with a sheet of one-quarter-inch ABS acrylic – the same material football helmets and airplane windshields are made of – vacuum-forms an exact mold of the tub. The result is a 35-pound liner that slips over the tired tub like a new glove. To install it, the local rep cleans the old tub with denatured alcohol, removes the drain and overflow and trims the liner so it fits snugly against the walls. Then, using a combination of two-sided butyl tape and silicone adhesive, he attaches the liner to the old tub. He finishes up by installing a new drain and overflow, and caulking the seams.

Once the liner is delivered, which can take four to eight weeks, a single workman can install it in six to eight hours, and the homeowner can bathe in it that same evening.

Tub Refinishing

Reglazing, or refinishing, a worn-out bathtub is a more site-intensive process, calling for chemicals that are hazardous enough to require a respirator and special protective suit for the technician who does the work.

“Basically, a refinisher turns a residential bathroom into a spray booth for a few hours,” explains Mike Grampp, who runs an 11-year-old tub refinishing business in Richmond, Ky. The first step in re-glazing involves masking the surfaces around the tub to protect from overspray and properly venting the bathroom to extract the toxic fumes. After removing the caulk, the refinisher swathes the tub in hydrofluoric acid, a highly toxic agent that not only dissolves what’s left of the porcelain glaze but also etches the surface so the new finish will adhere.

Next, the refinisher washes away the hydrofluoric acid, installs new caulk and dries the tub with the help of a fan.

He then sprays on two coats of a fast-drying epoxy to promote adhesion of the finish coats.

To finish, he gives the tub a cleaning with a tack cloth to remove any dust particles or insects, and then sprays four applications of a polyurethane finish coat with sanding in between.

Finally, the refinisher polishes the tub.

The whole process takes a single technician about four to six hours, depending on how extensive the repair is, but the tub needs to cure for a minimum of 24 hours before the water is turned on.

There’s no question that liners are more durable than refinished tubs. Indeed, Re-Bath shows off the resilience of its product in its San Jose showroom by banging them with a hammer.

But liners also cost much more – they run $800 to $1,000 installed. Plus, you’ll be given a sales pitch to install panels of acrylic wall liners around the tub.

The panels come in as many as 20 colors, with marbleized varieties, too, and run about $150 for an 8-foot model.

Refinishing a tub, on the other hand, costs $200 to $450. Although most customers choose white, refinishing is available at a slightly higher price in virtually any color that paint is, compared with the five or so colors (generally white, almond, biscuit, gray and black) most liner companies offer.

MODESTO — Police and prosecutors are investigating how an 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the back and killed by a veteran SWAT team member during a federal drug raid at his family’s home.

Alberto Sepulveda, a seventh-grader, died Wednesday morning on the floor of his bedroom, killed by a blast from officer David Hawn’s shotgun.

“From the preliminary investigation, all indications so far is that the shooting was accidental,” Police Chief Roy Wasden said Thursday.

The chief, addressing the crisis a month after being sworn in, declined to elaborate until his department and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office complete parallel investigations.

“We’ll go through a very exhaustive and thorough investigation to find out what happened and why,” he said. “Then we will try to implement changes to ensure we will never have a similar accident.”

Hawn, a 21-year department veteran and a SWAT team member for more than 18 years, was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the probes.

Mike Van Winkle, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, which has 500 drug agents and investigators, said no veterans he spoke with could recall any other accidental shooting of children during previous drug raids.

Last year, Hawn was cleared of wrongdoing for misfiring his gun into a suspect who had already killed himself during a SWAT raid. An internal investigation concluded an attacking pitbull brushed the muzzle of Hawn’s gun as he and other officers were checking the suspect for signs of life.

“He has a star record,” his chief said.

Hawn and five fellow team members entered the Sepulveda home about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday in one of 14 raids that were part of a 9-month investigation into methamphetamine trafficking by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

The boy’s father, Moises Sepulveda, who owns an auto repair shop, was on of 14 people arrested in the sweep. He was booked on charges of methamphetamine trafficking and remained jailed Thursday.

The boy’s mother, 8-year-old sister and 14-year-old brother were also home during the raid.

Moises Sepulveda Jr., was on the top bunk bed above his brother when the SWAT team began banging on the door. He said he does not know if his brother was awake when he left the room. But his father was and the two met in the hallway.

“My father said to stay calm. Then the front door blew open and they threw out one of those smoke bombs,” the teen-ager said, pointing to the brown scorch mark left on the living room floor by the canister

“My dad was cuffed and I was cuffed and one of them was stepping on my neck, pointing a gun down at me and told me not to move,” he said. “I heard another blast and thought it was another smoke bomb.

“But it turns out they shot my brother.”

On Thursday, friends and relatives gathered on the front lawn outside the family’s home in the city’s north side to help them grieve. Inside, the section of carpet where Alberto died was ripped up, not far from his bed.

“It smelled like blood so bad, so we threw it away,” Sepulveda Jr. said.

The boy’s mother wanted her privacy and did not wish to speak. She began wailing when someone arrived with a copy of the local newspaper and it got passed her way, the front page photo showing sheriff’s coroners removing her son’s sheet-covered body on a gurney.

“This is hard for her,” said sister-in-law Josefina Felix. “She cried and said ’I don’t understand. He’s only 11-years-old. He did nothing. Why did he kill my son?’ She cried and cried. And I cried, too.”

A Spanish-speaking police chaplain has been assigned to help the family through the ordeal.

“We’re doing everything we can to help the mother and the other two children,” he said. “We’ll move through this. It’s a tough thing.”

Sepulveda Jr., echoing the feelings of neighbors, relatives and other community members, said he didn’t understand why investigators did not try to enter peacefully before breaking down the door.

“They could have come in nicely. We would have opened the door. My dad isn’t the kind of man who would put his family in jeopardy.”

In methamphetamine raids, authorities have to know the potential that children could be present. More than 1,000 children were found living in clandestine methamphetamine labs seized by law enforcement officers in California last year, according to figures released in May.

SACRAMENTO — The state is stepping up its offensive against a tiny fungus that has felled thousands of oak trees from Big Sur to Humboldt County.

State Resources Secretary Mary Nichols said Thursday the strategy may go beyond the immediate disease threat and include long-term safeguards for California oaks, similar to protections for redwoods or giant sequoias.

Nichols, a cabinet-level environmental adviser to Gov. Gray Davis, asked the Board of Forestry to coordinate the research and eradication program targeting the fungus, which is believed to be related to the disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century.

The Board of Forestry, the state’s top timber-policy panel, sets commercial logging rules for private land and enforces the state’s forestry laws.

The oak-killing fungus, first noticed five years ago in Marin County, has destroyed oaks in Monterey, Santa Cruz, Marin, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, the state said. At one location, China Camp State Park in Marin County, 80 percent of the oak trees were infested.

A task force formed several weeks ago that includes state scientists and fire officials found that the disease has spread quickly, killing trees speedily once it invades their bark. The trees most at risk include live oak, tan oak and the California black oak.

“In the areas where it is active, it is killing so many trees that people are really concerned,” said board spokesman Louis Blumberg. “It also poses an increased fire risk.”

Nichols asked the Forestry Board to oversee that task force, and propose new rules and legislation to obtain funding for the eradication effort in next year’s budget – or even sooner.

Two weeks ago, an attempt to include $5 million for the threatened oaks was killed in the final moments of the 1999-2000 Legislature.

LOS ANGELES — A judge refused Wednesday to allow a Santa Monica City Council candidate to list himself on the November ballot as a “peace activist” but urged him to appeal for a definitive ruling.

“I want to see this issue get to the 9th Circuit (Court of Appeals) as quickly as possible,” U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts said in denying Jerry Rubin’s request for a preliminary injunction against the city of Santa Monica.

State law requires that candidates be identified on the ballot only by their profession, occupation or vocation, specifically barring the term activist.

But Rubin, 56, argued that peace activist is really the only job he has.

He is running for one of four open seats on the seven-member council.

Rubin’s attorney, James Fossbinder, said the state law is unconstitutional, adding he plans to file an appeal Thursday seeking an emergency ruling.

That may not be soon enough to help Rubin. Deputy City Attorney Cara E. Silver said Wednesday was the deadline to submit the city’s Nov. 7 ballot to Los Angeles County printers.

Rubin says he has spent the last 20 years working full-time as a peace activist. He has marched on Washington, done 25 peace-related fasts and vehemently opposed the manufacture and sale of war toys, among other causes.

As director of Los Angeles Alliance for Survival, he exists and operates the peace group on about $12,000 annually.

He is listed in the telephone directory as Jerry “Peace Activist” Rubin because of confusion years ago with Jerry Rubin, the late Chicago Seven defendant.

LOS ANGELES — A former judge will plead guilty to federal corruption charges for having a secret sexual relationship with a defendant while presiding over a case against the woman’s husband, prosecutors said Thursday.

Former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George W. Trammell III was charged Thursday with two felonies that carry up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Trammel signed an agreement to plead guilty to the charges, prosecutors said.

“This individual, entrusted with the most sacred of responsibilities, abused his power and corrupted the administration of justice. This is a crime of the worst kind,” U.S. Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas said.

Trammell was charged with two counts of mail fraud for using the U.S. mail in a scheme to defraud the people of California “of their right to his honest services as a judge,” a prosecution statement said.

Trammell, who is now 64 and lives in Florida, was appointed to the Municipal Court bench in 1971 and was elevated to Superior Court on Jan. 31, 1988, working at the Pomona Courthouse until he retired on Jan. 10, 1997.

Trammell will return to California for arraignment and sentencing later, said U.S. attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Trammell had previously denied that he had sex with the woman.

Last year, the state Commission on Judicial Performance censured Trammell and barred him from future judicial assignments, the harshest punishment allowed. The commission said removal from office would be justified if he had not resigned.

“Judge Trammell’s misconduct compromised the integrity and independence of the bench and cannot be tolerated,” the commission said. It said Trammell used his office to further the sexual relationship and made rulings in the woman’s favor.

The commission made no finding, however, that Trammell coerced the woman into having sex, as she had claimed. That was contrary to the conclusion of a Superior Court judge who ordered a new trial for the woman’s ex-husband. He ultimately pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced

prison.

Trammell was also investigated by county prosecutors, but they declined to charge him. It was a probe by an FBI corruption squad that led to Thursday’s charges and plea agreement.

The investigation stemmed from the 1995 kidnapping prosecution of Ming Ching Jin, his ex-wife, Pifen Lo, and two others. The case involved the alleged abduction of a couple for extortion and robbery.

Lo, who still lived with Jin and their three children, pleaded guilty in January 1996 to lesser charges. Trammel sentenced her to five years probation in April 1996.

Lo testified to the commission that in September 1996, while Jin was awaiting sentencing, Trammell called her into his chambers, kissed her, touched her breast, and told her that if she wanted Jin to get out of jail early, she would have to “pay the price.”

They had sexual intercourse four days later and continued a sexual relationship until January 1997, when the relationship was revealed in a letter from Jin to Lo that was intercepted by jail guards, the commission said. Lo taped four of their telephone calls, saying later she had feared Trammell might return her to jail.

During that period, the commission said, Trammell held hearings in the criminal case without revealing his relationship with Lo, and at one point pretended not to know her name.

He also made rulings that favored Lo, requiring police to return most of the property they had seized from her and easing the terms of her probation, the commission said. He had previously advised her on how to recover her property and arranged appointment of a lawyer for that purpose.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Wen Ho Lee spent his first hours of freedom celebrating at home with family and friends as the government defended its dogged prosecution of the Los Alamos nuclear scientist, saying it sought to protect national security.

Lee was released after pleading guilty Wednesday to a lone count of mishandling nuclear secrets.

Asked if Lee deserved an apology for being detained without bail under strict rules banning communication with all but his lawyers and family, his prosecutor said “absolutely no.”

“When you steal our nuclear secrets you are not going to be able to communicate with anyone,” Assistant U.S. Attorney George Stamboulidis said on the courthouse steps.

But the diminutive, graying scientist received an extensive apology from U.S. District Judge James Parker, who had harsh words for top decision-makers in the government’s executive branch, especially the departments of Energy and Justice. He said their handling of the case was an embarrassment.

“They have embarrassed our entire nation and each of us who is a citizen of it,” Parker said before sentencing Lee to nine months — the time he served since his arrest last December.

Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said in Washington: “We respectfully disagree with the judge. We have an obligation to the American public to protect the national security.

“Before we had the assurance from Dr. Lee that he would tell us what he knows, we could not afford to do anything but detain him.”

Lee, smiling and dressed in a casual blue polo shirt and slacks, went to a big “Welcome Party” bash thrown by his Los Alamos neighbors Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m very happy to be home. I’m so impressed with the big crowd here,” he told those gathered in Don and Jean Marshall’s back yard. “The last nine months were pretty tough for me but I survived.”

Jean Marshall urged journalists to “get acquainted with Wen Ho as we know him. He is a fun guy and you’re going to love him.”

The reel may stop spinning for good at one of the last true homes of repertory theater and one of the most beloved movie houses in town.

The Academy Award-winning “American Beauty” and “High Fidelity,” both scheduled for Sept. 30, may be the last films shown at the UC Theater at 2036 Shattuck Ave.

Built in 1916 by acclaimed Berkeley architect James Plachek and operated by Landmark Theaters since 1976, the historic theater may be forced to draw the curtain at the end of the month, because the theater chain is unable to pay $300,000 for state-mandated retrofitting.

The amount is half the total cost to retrofit the building and Landmark’s lease requires the payment, said Steve Indig, Landmark Theaters’ Bay Area Manager.

“It’s not an amount that is feasible for us,” he said. “We’re trying to negotiate with the landlord to not pay for it, though it is in our lease agreement.”

The owner of the building, Igal Sarfati, of Quality Bay Construction is out of the country and unavailable for comment, but Indig said that Landmark has been in touch with several of his associates.

“Nothing will happen until we talk with him,” Indig said. “Hopefully what we’re saying is speculative, but there is a possibility.”

Landmark Theaters’ parent company, the Dallas-based Silver Cinemas, filed bankruptcy in May of this year, but Indig said that’s not a factor.

“Regardless of the bankruptcy, the figure is not a reasonable business decision,” he said. “What we’re saying is that there’s no other theater operator that could come in and pay $300,000 to move in. It’s just not a reasonable move. What we’re hoping is that the landlord will agree with us and let us stay. We’re hoping it’s not a done deal.”

News of the possible closing of the theater with the biggest screen in town trickled into the community as, what many hope, to be a bad rumor.

“There’s hope that it’s a lot of talk. They may be negotiating for a lower rate.”

Caplan explained that Sarfati is bringing the theater and the old Stark Hotel to the west of it up to the California Unified Building Code that requires the retrofitting.

“We’re glad he’s upgrading,” he said.

“The old hotel has been vacant and has been a nightmare from a code point-of-view.”

Bringing the theater up to code offers no solace to avid independent movie-goers who flock to the screen for its trademark restored and classic films, foreign language cinema, documentaries and daring films.

“It would be a terrible loss,” said Carl Somers, a UC Berkeley grad student in sociology, who was passing near the theater Wednesday. “The theater is a historical focal point of Berkeley community life. It’s the best rep theater in the East Bay.”

“I’ve pretty much stopped going to the other screens in town,” said Tim Higbee, who was walking down University Avenue Wednesday. “This is one of the few places that’s offering a full range of challenging, historical, artistic and intelligent films. And they have the best popcorn in town.”

According to Landmarks Commissioner Leslie Emmington-Jones, Sarfati has been trying to put the theater on the National Register of Historic places, but the application has not been approved.

If it were to be placed on the National Register, Sarfati would be able to receive tax credits if he put money into enhancement or restoration of the theater, she said.

“The Landmarks Commission would (then) be obliged to look at any alterations (to the theater),” Emmington-Jones said.

Though the commission doesn’t have to approve the retrofit specified by the code, it would have to approve any other alterations Sarfati would be inclined to make if Landmark moves out.

Indig said that if it weren’t for the cost, the theater would show indies forever.

“The UC is an important part of Landmark, we have no reason to close it,” he said.

Indig said that UC Theater isn’t making plans to relocate, nor are the owners seeking financial assistance.

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Community Health

Commission

6:45 - 9:45 p.m.

Mental Health Clinic

2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

Among topics to be discussed are medical marijuana and genetically engineered/modified foods and Berkeley high school lunch issues.

644-6500

Thursday, Sept. 14

Eugene O’Neil House,

Mt. Diablo State Park Trip

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way

$21 per person

644-6107

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force

6:30 p.m.

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way

Agenda items include public comment time and sampling reviews

486-4387

Pre-business workshop

Small-business Development Center

519 17th St. Suite 200, Oakland

8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

$35

273-6611, www.eastbayscore.org, eastbayscore@yahoo.com

Yoga class

2 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave. 644-6107

What next for Haiti?

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Avenue,

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Community Health

Commission

6:45 - 9:45 p.m.

Mental Health Clinic

2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

Among topics to be discussed are medical marijuana and genetically engineered/modified foods and Berkeley high school lunch issues.

644-6500

Friday, Sept. 15

“The Barber of Seville”

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

“Lift the Sanctions from Iraq”

Interfaith Brunch & Community Gathering

Talk by Denis Halliday, Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General

10:30 a.m. -noon

Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento

(510) 527-8370

Saturday, Sept. 16

Shoreline clean-up walk

10 a.m.

Seabreeze Market, on Frontage Road just west of University Avenue

Friends of Five Creeks leads a walk, talking about

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizen’s Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements.

Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Contact: BCA Co-chair Linda Olivenbaum at (510) 652-1206

Call 549-0816

Nude and Breast Freedom Parade

Noon

People’s Park, between Dwight Way and Haste Street

Celebrate being exposed to each other’s bare bodies in acts of friendship and naked abandon, in dance, song, frolic, rituals and street theater, with the X-plicit Players. , starts at noon at People’s Park and continues up Telegraph Ave.

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others

848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Tour Mission District Gardens

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

One of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance for this fall. Tour SF’s Mission District and learn about the role of gardens and open space in community planning.

Call: 415-255-3233 to make reservations

Sunday, October 1

Return of the Raptors to Marin

Drivers: 11:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bikers: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Witness the migration of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Includes a hawk talk and banding demonstration and lunch at Rodeo Lagoon. Bike from SF or meet at Hawk Hill. Part of Greenbelt Alliance’s series of free outings.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Monday, Oct. 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

Celebrate Open Garden Day by joining this annual bicycle tour of local community and school gardens. Part of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Houses or Open Hills?

10 a.m.

Experience Black Diamond Mines Regional Park’s ghost towns, coal mines, spectacular views and open space on this hike by the proposed sites of 7,700 homes near Antioch. Cosponsored by Save Mount Diablo. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Oct. 8

Surmounting Sunol Peaks

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about local geology while enjoying the panoramic views from three Sunol peaks. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting

6 p.m.

2022 Blake St.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Community Health

Commission

6:45 - 9:45 p.m.

Mental Health Clinic

2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

Among topics to be discussed are medical marijuana and genetically engineered/modified foods and Berkeley high school lunch issues.

644-6500

Friday, Sept. 15

“The Barber of Seville”

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

“Lift the Sanctions from Iraq”

Interfaith Brunch & Community Gathering

Talk by Denis Halliday, Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General

10:30 a.m. -noon

Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento

(510) 527-8370

Saturday, Sept. 16

Shoreline clean-up walk

10 a.m.

Seabreeze Market, on Frontage Road just west of University Avenue

Friends of Five Creeks leads a walk, talking about

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizen’s Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements.

Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Contact: BCA Co-chair Linda Olivenbaum at (510) 652-1206

Call 549-0816

Nude and Breast Freedom Parade

Noon

People’s Park, between Dwight Way and Haste Street

Celebrate being exposed to each other’s bare bodies in acts of friendship and naked abandon, in dance, song, frolic, rituals and street theater, with the X-plicit Players. , starts at noon at People’s Park and continues up Telegraph Ave.

Sunday, Sept. 24

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others

848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Tour Mission District Gardens

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

One of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance for this fall. Tour SF’s Mission District and learn about the role of gardens and open space in community planning.

Call: 415-255-3233 to make reservations

Sunday, October 1

Return of the Raptors to Marin

Drivers: 11:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bikers: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Witness the migration of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Includes a hawk talk and banding demonstration and lunch at Rodeo Lagoon. Bike from SF or meet at Hawk Hill. Part of Greenbelt Alliance’s series of free outings.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Monday, Oct. 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

Saturday, Oct. 7

Celebrate Open Garden Day by joining this annual bicycle tour of local community and school gardens. Part of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Houses or Open Hills?

10 a.m.

Experience Black Diamond Mines Regional Park’s ghost towns, coal mines, spectacular views and open space on this hike by the proposed sites of 7,700 homes near Antioch. Cosponsored by Save Mount Diablo. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Oct. 8

Surmounting Sunol Peaks

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about local geology while enjoying the panoramic views from three Sunol peaks. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting

6 p.m.

2022 Blake St.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizen’s Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements.

Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Contact: BCA Co-chair Linda Olivenbaum at (510) 652-1206

Call 549-0816

Nude and Breast Freedom Parade

Noon

People’s Park, between Dwight Way and Haste Street

Celebrate being exposed to each other’s bare bodies in acts of friendship and naked abandon, in dance, song, frolic, rituals and street theater, with the X-plicit Players. , starts at noon at People’s Park and continues up Telegraph Ave.

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others

848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Tour Mission District Gardens

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

One of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance for this fall. Tour SF’s Mission District and learn about the role of gardens and open space in community planning.

Call: 415-255-3233 to make reservations

Sunday, October 1

Return of the Raptors to Marin

Drivers: 11:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bikers: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Witness the migration of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Includes a hawk talk and banding demonstration and lunch at Rodeo Lagoon. Bike from SF or meet at Hawk Hill. Part of Greenbelt Alliance’s series of free outings.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Monday, Oct. 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

Celebrate Open Garden Day by joining this annual bicycle tour of local community and school gardens. Part of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Houses or Open Hills?

10 a.m.

Experience Black Diamond Mines Regional Park’s ghost towns, coal mines, spectacular views and open space on this hike by the proposed sites of 7,700 homes near Antioch. Cosponsored by Save Mount Diablo. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, Oct. 8

Surmounting Sunol Peaks

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about local geology while enjoying the panoramic views from three Sunol peaks. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting

6 p.m.

2022 Blake St.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

Friday, author and film critic, Jack Shaheen will present Arab Screen Images at the Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley as part of the Fourth Annual Cinamyaat series. Using a compilation of film and television clips, Dr. Shaheen presents the development of misrepresentation of Arabs in American entertainment as well as current examples of positive efforts in film to counter this bias. This highly provocative presentation will be followed with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions.

Dr. Shaheen is an internationally recognized specialist on stereotypical portraits of Arabs in the media. He teaches mass communications at Southern Illinois University and is the author of The TV Arab, The Comic Book Arab and The Hollywood Arab.

It is difficult for me, an Arab American, to bring up my daughter with a positive image of her culture. The Hollywood image of Arabs and Muslims is one big reason. When my daughter is watching cartoons or children’s movies, I find myself constantly fumbling for the words to tell her why people who look like her and her parents are either not present at all or portrayed as something we aren’t.

The usual Hollywood portrayal Arabs are as dark, hooked nosed and violent people, as in Alladin, or the terrorist as in Back to the Future, the animal killer in Black Stallion, or the true inheritors of Arab lands as in Prince of Egypt. It is difficult to find any positive image of Arabs and Muslims for children to read or watch. For years I gave the Berkeley library hints about the shameful lack of children’s books on Islam and Arabs. After years of indifference I gave up on them and stopped taking my daughter to morning storytelling.

A wonderful group of young UC Berkeley undergraduate women started a Sunday school for kids, concentrating on Arabic and Islamic studies. We talked to Arab friends with kids about the school and while we had misgivings, we joined the group anyway. My wife, and her friends who are of Christian Arab background, were concerned about misogynistic Islam. I too was concerned about orthodox Islamic teachings; while I was comfortable with Islamic culture I was brought up in a secular household. We pushed ahead with Sunday school primarily because our daughter was singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs and her preferential self-image was as a Chinese American girl of Arab ancestry.

Her Chinese pre-school teachers had a big impact on my daughter’s development.

Jack Shaheen said that hurtful and harmful stereotypes do not exist in a vacuum. Continuously repeated, they denigrate peoples, narrow our visions and blur reality. My “Chinese-Jewish-American” daughter can testify to that.

I would go a step further than Dr. Shaheen, however. I would say that constant denigration of the Arab image in Hollywood translates into American laws and policies that target Arabs and Muslims as the enemy, the successor to the Red Menace. I would say the Hollywood image was the building block for the anti-terrorist laws of 1996 through which secret evidence was introduced in U.S. courts. It is the basis for our collective congressional whoring in support of Israel right or wrong. It provided the basis for the Gulf War and the famine and pestilence that followed. The Hollywood image is the reason why I get profiled at airports as a terrorist, not withstanding the FBI records that indicate far more terrorist incidents are linked to South America than the Middle East.

Jack Shaheen is a refreshing voice but hardly one who is given media attention. Arab Screen Images shows at 7 p.m. Friday evening after which he will speak. The Fine Arts Theater is at 2451 Shattuck Ave.

The Cal coaching staff spent the summer incorporating the H-back position into the Bear offense with the special talents of Marcus Fields in mind. Fields played the new position well in the season opener, making three catches for 24 yards and carrying the ball once. Unfortunately, he also suffered a fractured shoulder and will miss four to six weeks of action.

So the task of mastering the H-back will fall to senior fullback Keana Kealaaina, who had no catches or carries while playing in nine of 11 games last year.

Kealaaina, who transferred from College of San Mateo before last season, can also play tight end, but has never been asked to catch the ball much before. In fact, he spent the first year of his college career at San Jose State playing linebacker. He took four years off to take his mission recruiting converts for the Mormon Church, after which he enrolled at College of San Mateo. He played running back for a year there, gaining over 1,000 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns.

Kealaaina was born in Hawaii, where Joe Igber starred in high school. If they start the Illinois game, it would give the Bears the only all-Hawaii backfield in Division 1A college football.

The H-back lines up wide of the tailback, rarely runs the ball and often flares out to the flat for passes. There is no question Kealaaina can handle the blocking duties: his 6-3, 260-pound frame makes him a natural at plowing over linebackers and defensive backs. But he is less of a threat in the passing game than Fields, lacking the speed to break for big gains.

Head coach Tom Holmoe said the offense won’t change with Keala at H-back.

“We wouldn’t have installed the H-back into our offense if the position only went one man deep,” Holmoe said. “We know Keala can do the job.”

Kealaaina played much of the latter stages of Saturday’s game against Utah, and performed well, catching a pass and breaking a tackle for a 14-yard gain. He may also see time at tight end, where starter Brian Surgener is battling several minor injuries. In fact, Kealaaina was listed as the starter at both positions earlier in the week, which surely is physically impossible. If Surgener, who was hit hard in the kidneys against Utah, can’t play, look for sophomore tight end Tom Swoboda to see quite a bit of action. Swoboda earned a scholarship this year after walking onto the team last year.

Sophomore fullback Ryan Stanger will back up Kealaaina at H-back. Stanger is also known mainly for his blocking, although he showed improvement in catching passes out of the backfield during spring practice. Senior Roy Jackson may also see some action at fullback.

NOTES: Center Reed Diehl has added a strained left knee to his laundry list of injuries this season, which includes a strained right knee and an injured right hand. He is questionable for Saturday’s game. If he is unable to play, sophomore Nolan Bluntzer will see the lion’s share of time at center. Bluntzer played well after replacing Diehl against Utah.

“That’s my job as a backup, to be ready whenever the team needs me,” Bluntzer said following the Utah game. “I’ve had two years under (offensive line) coach (Ed) White, so I’m confident I can do the job.”

Holmoe said the offense wouldn’t change with Bluntzer at center.

“We didn’t back off of anything with Bluntzer in there,” he said. “We can’t dictate the offense by who’s in the game.”

*****

Earlier this year, Holmoe said James Smith might be the odd man out among the wideouts on road trips. But that has changed with his performance against Utah

“Hey, the guy caught a touchdown pass, and he’s the best blocker among our receivers. He’s definitely earned a spot on the trip.” Holmoe said.

*****

Guard Scott Tercero will see his first action of the season against Illinois after struggling to rehab an injured knee which required surgery this summer. He has been taking about half of the snaps in practice this week.

SAN FRANCISCO — Former University of California at Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien has been hospitalized for treatment of a brain tumor, UC officials confirmed.

Tien, 65, is in critical but stable condition at UCSF Medical Center.

Family members urged Tien to seek treatment after he appeared unusually tired over the Labor Day weekend.

He was admitted and underwent surgery.

His son, Norman Tien, said the family is awaiting test results before deciding what to do next. Norman Tien said his father is alert and communicating with the family, according to a Berkeley news release.

At the time of his 1990 appointment, Tien was believed to be the first Asian to head a major U.S. university. He resigned six years later, saying he wanted to move on.

A popular campus leader and successful fund-raiser, Tien is also an internationally recognized authority in heat transfer technology. He is currently the NEC Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Berkeley.

“Chang-Lin Tien is one of the great leaders of American higher education and served the Berkeley campus as one of its most beloved and successful chancellors,” UC President Richard C. Atkinson said in a statement. “We share the family’s hopes for Dr. Tien’s full recovery.”

Last Thursday against Contra Costa Christian High, the St. Mary’s women’s volleyball team relied on their serves for an easy win. On Tuesday night against the El Cerrito Gauchos, a balanced attack enabled the Panthers to corral a three-set victory (15-3, 15-6, 15-9) and expand upon their undefeated record (4-0, 0-0).

“It’s always good to get ahead early, play all your players…be well tuned for the start of league play,” noted St. Mary’s head coach Herman Shum. Indeed, every single Panther participated and contributed to Tuesday’s victory. Sophomore Jazmin Pratt, tabbed as “one to look for” by her head coach, had a solid all-around game with 16 serve attempts, 10 spikes, six aces, four digs, and three kills. Ronice Sweet led all Panthers with 14 spikes, four kills and two blocks, while Elisabeth Carr racked up a team high 17 serve attempts. Suzanne Vendil tied Pratt’s team high total of six aces on just eleven serve attempts, making her the most efficient ace player of the night. Defensive buffs would have loved to watch both Kristina Shapona and Karen Sommers — each player kicked in three digs apiece.

The Panthers stormed out of the gates in the first set with an 8-2 lead. The Gauchos tried to sway momentum within their favor with a sideout and a successful point. But Pratt quickly gave the serve back to the Panthers with a Jordanesque jump and a screaming spike. From that point on, the Panthers rallied off seven straight points and a first set win.

Things got a little hairy in the second set as El Cerrito played tough early and tied the score at five points apiece. But timely aces by the Panthers and emphatic spikes by Pratt, Sweet and Carr enabled St. Mary’s to garner 10 of the next 11 points, and the Panthers wrapped up a 15-6 second set victory.

It appeared to be easy sailing for the Panthers ship in the third and final set. A major player was team captain Kristina Shapona, who has successfully recovered from an ACL injury in her sophomore season and is an inspiration to her own team. The Panthers rattled off three points on her at serve and cruised to an 8-1 lead. But two Gaucho rallies led to a heated battle that almost reached disastrous proportions for the Panthers. Faced with a nine-point deficit, El Cerrito hustled to pull within six points at 11-5. The Panthers clawed their way back to a nine-point lead at 14-5, but the Gauchos immediately corralled four consecutive points behind a fired up squad whose voices during hits resembled a young Monica Seles. El Cerrito could not muster more than nine points and the Panthers held on for a 15-9 win and their fourth victory in as many games.

“The girls expected to do well,” stated St. Mary’s head coach Herman Shum. “El Cerrito is the best team we’ve played and we’ve been able to raise our performance every single week.” The success of the Panthers is not lost on the student body, as senior spectator David Rodriguez notes that the team “is doing really well and has caught people’s eyes.” If they continue to play at this level, opponents may not be able to catch the Panthers in the win column.

There was pomp, there was ceremony, and then the clock struck midnight – well, 11:15 p.m. – and the City Council turned back into human beings.

The Mod Squad, lead by Mayor Shirley Dean, spent the first council meeting of the year, in contention with the liberal-progressive majority, debating public toilets, bus passes, traffic reports with the heat of a truly representative democracy.

Things began as they always do at Old City Hall, with 10 members of the public getting their say. Maya Rodolfo-Sioson and Karen Craig, chair and vice-chair of the Commission on Disability spoke heatedly about the treatment of Michael Minasian by the Berkeley Police and management at Jupiter’s Cafe, a popular downtown pub.

Minasian, with his service dog King, an 80-pound German Shepard, talked about his arrest, 20-hour incarceration, and the psychological toll of losing his civil rights when Berkeley Police “disregarded Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” Minasian, whose disability is not apparent and who refused to disclose his disability to officers, was arrested for bringing his dog into an eating establishment.

Councilmember Dona Spring followed this with a passionate appeal to City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, to set a progressive policy toward the enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, particularly since Berkeley is the “home of the disability movement.”

A contingent of employees from Berkeley Marina businesses came with banners and signs, but failed to have any of their names drawn – public speakers are limited to 10 people chosen by lottery – to speak in favor of an expanded Living Wage Ordinance, which would cover persons employed at the Marina.

Instead, they listened to attorney Zachary Wasserman speak on behalf of the California Restaurant Association, calling the proposed extended ordinance an “excess and abuse of council power.” He called on the council to include the Marina business owners in decisions around the decision which would hike low-wage workers wages to $9.75 per hour if they receive benefits and $11.38 per hour if they don’t.

The employees filed out of the council chambers and down the winding staircase chanting, “No delay on living wage” and the council soon thereafter passed the living-wage extension unanimously.

On other items, the council agreed to allow the city manager to sit on the board of directors of the Berkeley Alliance, a nonprofit group which brings the University of California, the Berkeley School District, and the city together to address issues such as Berkeley High’s achievement gap.

“Latino and African-American students are scoring lower in achievement and test scores in our high school,” said Arietta Chakos, chief of staff in the manager’s office.

“We ask how this can happen in the city that was the first to voluntarily desegregate schools, with the best public university in the nation.”

The Alliance will bring the resources of the university to the day to day problems that the community faces. “It will give the University and the City Council common ground to work together on,” setting the foundation for changing a traditionally contentious relationship, Chakos said.

The council voted along traditional 5-4 lines for the city manager to work with billboard companies which, in exchange for putting up a large billbaord along the freeway, would take an unknown number of billboards down in neighborhoods and put up an undetermined number of public toilets in commercial areas.

“If we want public toilets in commercial centers,” said Councilmember Betty Olds, “let’s get toilets. They don’t need to be tied to billboards on the highway.”

“Why pollute our view of the Bay?” asked Councilmember Diane Woolley, the most outspoken opponent of such a plan.

“There is no such thing as a free public toilet,” quipped Councilmember Kriss Worthington. Councilmembers Worthington, Spring, Linda Maio, Margaret Breland and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek voted in favor of the proposal, while the others opposed it.

Factionalism broke out in full force, after the public had left the room. Seated before four journalists, one citizen, and as many of the TV audience that could keep their eyes open, the council deliberated over the creation of sub-committees, the appointment of councilmembers to those sub-committees, the need for political balance on those subcommittees, and who would decide which items to discuss for the rest of the night.

The issue of citywide transit passes trailed off into lengthy discussions about who would eventually take credit for such a program. While Dean wanted to form a sub-committee of herself and Councilmember Polly Armstrong, Worthington contended that such a committee was politically unbalanced – both Dean and Armstrong are members of the “moderate” faction. He wanted to refer the policy making decisions to the Transportation Commission, which he said already had a sub-committee set up to deal with this issue.

This caused a row. Dean said, “ I would hope this has nothing to do with politics. This request is simply unfair and outrageous. Why does political balance always get questioned when (the moderates) want to work together on a project? No one asks about the other committees’ political composition.”

Worthington then asked to be appointed to the proposed subcommittee to balance things out. Dean balked, and Worthington then said, “This is a perfect example of how personal or political agendas are used against individuals to keep the policy making decisions in the hands of the minority. It’s absurd.”

The item was eventually referred to a subcommittee made up of the mayor, Armstrong and Maio. Voting in favor of the committee were Dean, Olds, Armstrong, Woolley, and Maio. Worthington, Shirek, and Breland voted in opposition, while Spring abstained.

At 10:55 PM, things began to break down. Shirek got up and roamed behind the council’s chairs, Woolley lost track of the roll call agenda, and the item numbers were juggled so often that nobody could really follow exactly where the meeting was headed.

Long before this, it was clear that the council would not get through the night’s proposed agenda, and the council debated, for quite a while, whether the session would end by 11 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. By that time, it was 11:05 p.m.

Worthington quickly ran through a backdoor, reasons unknown. He returned, a roll call was passed, and no one at the press table knew exactly what was going on. Then a column of suits walked in. It was 11:10 p.m. Shirek walked out. One of three remaining journalists walked out.

Dean, hands covering her face, could only listen as the items of the day dissolved into a cycle of endless procedure.

When called for comments on last night’s meeting, Dean could not be reached. Staff said she was on vacation until Friday.

But despite the success and frustration, other issues still loom in the backdrop. Basic questions, such as where the money will come from to finance new projects have yet to be answered.

“There is no money in the budget for any new projects now,” says Phil Kamlarz, Deputy City Manager. “All approved items will be put on a list and referred to the mid-year budget. The list is always longer than the budget can provide for, but what we do is create a frame work process to make decisions in context,” he says.

“Individually, almost every proposal looks good, but once it’s seen from a larger perspective, don’t always seem necessary,” says Kamlarz.

Cal’s receiving corps got a boost in their opener against Utah, as true freshmen Geoff McArthur and Chase Lyman made several outstanding catches and redshirt freshman James Smith showed that he can catch the ball after all. But that didn’t stop wideout recruit John Rust from verbally committing to play at Cal next year.

“The academics are great, and with their wide receiver situation a little shaky, I think there’s a good chance that I could play right away,” Rust said Tuesday.

Rust, a 6-5, 200-pound three-sport star from Lake Oswego, Ore., caught 48 balls for 1,070 yards and nine touchdowns last year, earning his first team all-league, second team all-state and Junior All-American honors. He is considered one of the top all-around athletes on the west coast, lettering in football, basketball and track since his sophomore year.

“I really liked the school when I went on an unofficial visit there over the summer,” Rust said. “I told myself I would probably commit the next time they call, and that’s just what happened.”

Rust was also being recruited by UCLA, USC and Michigan, among others.

Cal has now grabbed verbal commitments from seven recruits, and all but Rust are from California.

UC Berkeley graduate Matt Martello strapped his “Fat-Melt Magnet Belt” on over his suit coat and stepped under the hot lights and in front of the camera.

The young entrepreneur wiped sweat from his brow, pushed his glasses up on his nose and wrapped his hands around the belt like a gunslinger or superhero and confidently told the slick Miles Spencer: “What I have in my palms is hotter than any dot-com.”

Martello was one of some 30 entrepreneurs and company reps that spent a minute and a half pitching their products to Spencer, the co-host of Money Hunt – a syndicated public television show broadcast in the United States and Europe that lauds, or thrashes, entrepreneurs and their ideas.

Spencer filmed the eager entrepreneurs for an hour at the Pyramid Ale House Tuesday evening. Then he changed hats and became Master of Ceremonies for the “Entrepreneur’s Grill,” a competition among new entrepreneurs, hosted by the Golden State Capital Network at Pyramid Ale at 901 Gilman St.

This event is an entrepreneurial frat-party, where money talks and the beer flows free. It’s designed for entrepreneurs, designed for entrepreneurs, investors, lenders and other professional service providers to rub elbows, make pitches and swap cards while they guzzle beer and gorge themselves on chicken wings.

“The Grill” itself, which took place in the second half of the evening, was set up much like the Money Hunt program. Three “grillers” or experts dressed in chef hats and aprons, critiqued four entrepreneurs’ pitches and business plans.

John Gregory, president and CEO of Golden State Capital Network – a statewide venture catalyst organization that helps investors and entrepreneurs make contacts, said the East Bay is “becoming a mecca for emerging growth companies.”

Martello, who received his degree in psychology at UC Berkeley, is the president of Health Magnet, Inc., a one-man operation he runs out of a relative’s house in Walnut Creek.

“I’m still testing it,” he said of his belt, which looks like an elastic white belt with cylindrical magnets imbedded every half-inch or so with “Fat-Melt Magnet Belt” emblazoned in the front with red, permanent marker.

He said he’s lost weight and fattened-up purposely over the past two years to test it.

“I’ve lost about one pound a week on average,” he said. “It’s scientifically proven that the human body is electromagnetic.”

Contrast Martello with Bill Halldin, a representative of campusengine.com, a Sacramento-based start-up that helps college newspapers transform their web sites into state-of-the art Internet portals.

“We won the $100,000 investment from Money Hunt’s ‘Wow! What a Great Idea’ contest,” he said.

Berkeley manager of economic development Bill Lambert gave his own pitch on behalf of the city, calling Berkeley “the land of innovation,” and “the East Bay innovation incubator.”

“The point is, we’re here to serve you for your business needs,” he told the crowd of around 200.

Lambert introduced several non-profit training agencies and educational institutions, including Vista College, the Berkeley Adult School and Berkeley High School, as potential reservoirs where businesses can find employees.

The lucky winner of the grill, picked by an “applauseometer” was iConvention, an application provider for the convention and trade-show industry based in Citrus Heights.

Gregory said their win meant that they get automatic entree into the October 20 conference in Concord where they, along with 19 others, will get the chance to give 10-minute presentations to potential investors and get the chance to get “grilled” one more time.

Computer scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have received about $9.5 million in grants to research computers and information technology.

The National Science Foundation today announced the distribution of some $90 million in grants to be distributed through an information technology program.

According to a university spokesman, five of the grants totaling about $7.4 million over the next five years will fund projects led by Berkeley faculty members.

UC computer scientists will collaborate on three other projects that will bring an additional $2.07 million to the university.

Projects Berkeley scientists will research include a study aimed at investigating server crashes and a study to find a way to eliminate software bugs before programs are released.

A global scientific network will also be creates to let scientist share data and results of computer simulations.

The grants are a result of President Clinton's Information Technology Advisory Committee, which recommended the president increase federal investments on information technology to continue the nation's role as a key figure in the global economy.

The chairman of Berkeley's computer science division, Christos H. Papadimitriou, is confident in the contributions of the university’s researchers.

“These UC Berkeley research groups have a significant track record of success in changing the industry, and now they're taking on a new challenge,” he said.

University scientist have been responsible for past technological achievements, such as the UNIX operating system, which is currently used on computer stations and for web services, as well as RISC chips at the center of Power PCs, used in the com

SAN FRANCISCO — Teaching at troubled schools could earn some California educators a discount on a new home.

The state treasurer set aside $64 million Tuesday to help teachers buy homes in six counties with hot housing markets.

In return for the benefits of the Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase program, teachers must work five years in a poorly performing school – one that scores below the bottom 30 percent of the Academic Performance Ranking.

The program should help attract qualified teachers to poor, rural and urban school districts, says State Treasurer Philip Angelides.

“This program is not only to help teachers buy a home but to help out teachers teaching in the toughest schools,” Angelides said in an interview Wednesday.

He expects the program will assist 460 teachers and their families in the next few months, and predicts the program will help 4,000 over the next four years.

The program will provide down payments and federal tax credits to educators who hold a teaching credential and fall within a salary range that varies by county.

The program would provide educators with at least $7,500 in down payment help, along with federal tax credits worth up to 20 percent of their annual mortgage interest.

The California Teachers Association, however, says a better solution is to raise teacher salaries.

Low salary levels and soaring home prices have made it difficult to own a home.

In the Bay Area, for example, the average teachers salary is $46,000 and the median home price around $370,000.

Angelides acknowledged that teachers in the Bay Area will likely still have a hard time affording a home, but that the assistance could at least help with the cost of a condominium or a small first home.

Santa Clara, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernadino counties will take part in the program.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Navy announced Tuesday that metals and petroleum have been found in the ground and benzene in the air around a landfill which has been burning underground for four weeks.

It was not immediately known whether those materials found at Hunter’s Point Shipyard were present at levels harmful to the public and the Navy continued to evaluate the results.

Navy officials also announced they had hired a landfill expert in hopes of finding a way to put out the smoldering fire that has troubled residents in the Hunter’s Point area of the city and frustrated the Environmental Protection Agency which maintains that the military waited too long, more than three weeks, to tell anyone about the problem.

SAN JOSE — Eight months after fleeing to the Caribbean to avoid charges that they stole $10 million from their insurance clients, a San Jose couple appeared in court for the first time and were each ordered held on $10 million bail.

Robert and Kimberly Morgan did not address the judge or enter pleas during their hearing Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, though Robert Morgan smiled slightly in a brief conversation with his attorney. The judge set the next hearing for Sept. 25.

Robert Morgan, 37, could face 16 years in prison if convicted; Mrs. Morgan, 36, could get eight years.

Robert Morgan allegedly bilked about $10 million from 700 clients of ISU Diligent Insurance Agency in San Jose. Prosecutor Stephen Lowney said that the company collected premiums for insurance policies that were never written, and as much as $3 million went into the Morgans’ pockets.

Late last year, as investigators were close to charging him, Morgan and his wife disappeared from their $950,000 hillside home with their two young children, nanny and dog.

They fled to St. Lucia, where they allegedly assumed the identities of two of their cousins, who live in San Jose, and settled in one of the island’s most exclusive neighborhoods. The nanny, Jean Checketts, also allegedly took another person’s identity.

The Morgans were arrested last month – after family members tipped authorities – and extradited to San Jose, where they arrived Monday night, Lowney said.

Robert Morgan is charged with insurance fraud, grand theft and identity theft. His wife faces theft charges relating to the couple’s escape to the Caribbean; prosecutors have yet to charge her in the alleged insurance scam. The nanny, who is cooperating with investigators, will not be charged, Lowney said.

Defense attorneys contend that the couple panicked and feared for their children when authorities began investigating Kimberly Morgan as well as her husband.

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster Inc. has told a federal appeals court in San Francisco that recording companies suing it for copyright violations are seeking “to kill or control a technology that is not theirs.”

The San Mateo software company made the statement in a final brief filed yesterday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court will hear arguments Oct. 2 on whether to uphold an injunction that would block Napster from enabling millions of users to share computer files of copyrighted music for free.

Napster says injunction would “shut down Napster entirely.” The appeals court has suspended the injunction until it rules on the case.

Napster lawyers say in the brief that the music sharing program has not diminished the value of the copyrights owned by the 18 recording companies that have sued it.

They say the case is really about whether the companies can use their control over music copyrights to prevent Napster from “transforming the Internet in ways that might undermine their present chokehold on music promotion and distribution.”

The recording companies said in their brief last week that Napster promotes “massive infringement” of copyrights and “is a business created to facilitate the anonymous theft of music.”

WHITTIER — Fearful that a proposal to sell only low-sulfur diesel fuel in Southern California will lead to fuel shortages, truck drivers and school districts called on officials Wednesday to kill the plan.

The South Coast Clean Air Partnership and the California Trucking Association said the proposed rule likely would be ineffective. The rule would require four Southern California counties to sell only low-sulfur diesel after June 1, 2004 — two years before federal authorities impose similar standards.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District is scheduled Friday to hold a public hearing on the proposal, which has drawn criticism from the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission.

“Because this diesel will be the product of only a few refiners, even a small glitch will threaten supply and that threat will send prices through the roof,” said Bob Sulnick, an environmental attorney and director of the South Coast Clean Air Partnership.

“With that prospect, and good old reliable diesel being sold just outside the district’s boundaries, trucking companies will be fueling up outside before driving in to make deliveries and pickups.”

The South Coast Clean Air Partnership, which held a news conference Wednesday with the California Trucking Association at a trucking company’s office, is made up of several school districts, transit companies and businesses.

The Air Resources Board has said it will reject the proposal if it passes, possibly marking the first time the board has rejected a regional plan to toughen anti-pollution rules.

The board has said the proposal would do little to cut pollution and would add an unnecessary level of regulation.

The AQMD rejects suggestions that its plan will lead to fuel shortages and other problems, pointing out that any refiners that can’t comply with the regulations can pay a mitigation fee that may amount to between two and five cents a gallon and still sell the regular diesel.

SACRAMENTO — Up to four million gallons of raw sewage seeped into the American River before it was detected over the weekend, said Sacramento County health officials.

The spill was detected Saturday but warning signs were not posted around the river beaches until Tuesday.

“You could see huge quantities of sewage coming right out of the storm drain. It was frothing up,” said Kevin Odell, one of the two fishermen who noticed the spill and tried to alert authorities.

The county environmental health department didn’t find out about the spill until Monday and notified the parks department. Parks officials posted signs advising swimmers and waders to stay out of the water.

The spill may have started Thursday when a contractor from Ford Construction Co. replaced a sewer main near California State University, Sacramento.

It is unclear how much sewage gushed into the river, but estimates are between 1 and 4 million, said Pat Leary, a senior engineer at the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board.

The city could face enforcement action or fines for the snafu, which is the third spill affecting the American River this year, Leary said.

No fish kills or illnesses linked to the spill have been reported. Water officials say there was probably not enough sewage spilled to affect the drinking

SACRAMENTO — California forestry officials grappled Wednesday with proposed logging rules that would ease timber-harvesting restrictions next year across thousands of acres of forests.

Facing a deadline, Board of Forestry members considered whether to put the rules to a final vote next month – a critical procedural move required for any rules to take effect Jan. 1.

Logging interests and forest landowners generally supported the new rules, contending they were superior to emergency regulations adopted in March that contain tighter limits on how much timber can be cut and where.

They noted that if new rules are not approved, the emergency regulations will remain in effect.

But environmentalists said the latest regulations would remove limits on key aspects of logging, including how many trees must be left standing near streams, how much canopy must be retained overhead for shade, and how close to streams loggers are allowed to cut.

This issue, the proximity to streams, is the crux of the dispute. The streams serve as the habitats for fish, and environmentalists fear the latest rules would hurt wildlife.

Supporters of the new rules say there are sufficient safeguards.

“That’s what all these hearings are about: Whether they (loggers) will have to leave 10 trees standing alongside a stream for every 330 feet. And whether the buffer zones around the streams will be bigger or smaller,” said Kathy Bailey of the Sierra Club.

SACRAMENTO — California’s public schools, teachers and workers will learn on Oct. 4 if they might be eligible for bonuses of up to $25,000 for their students’ test scores.

The state Department of Education that day plans to post on the Internet the 2000 Academic Performance Index that will show whether schools improved test scores from 1999.

The new APIs will be the basis for $677 million in bonuses for schools and teachers, part of Gov. Gray Davis’ incentive program to try to improve academic performance of California’s 5.8 million public school children.

The rewards will be based on the growth between the 1999 API and the new one. Both APIs are based solely on the Standardized Testing and Reporting exam, which is a standardized test.

Future APIs could include measures such as other tests and graduation and attendance rates, but those are not considered reliable yet.

The rewards will be distributed early next year.

There are three different rewards programs:

l Governor’s Performance Awards: $227 million for schools that have at least 5 percent growth in their API overall and 4 percent growth for minority and poor students. Schools will get $150 per student to be used as school site councils determine.

l School Site Employee Performance Awards: $350 million for all staff at schools that meet the same criteria. Teachers and other workers will get a bonus, the amount depending on how many schools qualify, and the school will get the same amount to be used for school programs.

l Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Act: $100 million for teachers and principals in schools that scored in the bottom half of the state in 1999 and improve their APIs the most in 2000.

APIs must grow at least 10 percent and scores for minority and poor students must increase at least 8 percent. Schools must also have increased test scores between 1998 and 1999.

All state schools will be ranked by the growth in their APIs and 1,000 teachers in the schools with the largest growths will get $25,000 bonuses each.

The next 3,750 teachers will get $10,000 each and the next 7,500 teachers will get $5,000 each. The local district and teacher unions will distribute the bonuses.

However, for a school or its teachers to get any rewards, 95 percent of students in elementary and middle schools and 90 percent in high schools must have taken the 2000 test.

More than 1,000 of the state’s 8,000 schools won’t be eligible for this year’s rewards.

The 1999 law creating the program exempted alternative schools for dropouts and other at-risk students, special education centers and schools with fewer than 100 students from the API and rewards programs.

The state is working on an alternative accountability program for such schools and the state Board of Education has recommended that the Legislature create a separate rewards program for them next year.

FRESNO — Motel handyman Cary Stayner was convicted Wednesday of murdering a Yosemite naturalist in a deal that spares his life but guarantees he will never be free and never be able to tell his story.

Stayner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to killing Joie Armstrong on July 21 last year. He admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Armstrong.

In exchange, he will be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole instead of facing a death sentence.

The agreement that Stayner, his lawyer and prosecutors signed Sept. 6, also requires that he take his story to his grave.

“After the entry of judgment in this case until his death he will not speak to anyone, write to anyone, or communicate to anyone about the death of Joie Ruth Armstrong,” the agreement states. The only exception is any testimony or communication with his lawyer regarding his state or federal murder cases.

In order to guarantee that he never profits from his story, he agreed to a $10 million restitution order to go to a fund in Armstrong’s name.

Stayner, 39, initially pleaded innocent to kidnapping, attempted sexual assault and murder in the case, which was being prosecuted in federal court because Armstrong was killed in a national park.

At the same time it reaches resolution, it shifts Stayner’s fate to state court, where prosecutors have been eagerly awaiting their chance to try him in the slayings of three Yosemite tourists.

While Stayner has dodged execution in Armstrong’s murder, he still faces the death penalty if convicted in the slayings of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16.

The three women were killed five months before Armstrong, during a sightseeing trip to Yosemite National Park. They had been staying at the Cedar Lodge, a remote and rustic motel outside the park’s western gate, where Stayner lived and worked.

It was their disappearance, in mid-February last year, that prompted one of the most intense FBI manhunts as scores of agents fanned out across the rugged and rolling terrain of the western Sierra to search for clues.

Stayner was interviewed early in the investigation but ruled out as a suspect. He later helped agents collect evidence from the motel rooms and was in their midst as the case unfolded in one grim twist after another and the investigation went astray.

Based on circumstantial evidence and what was later believed to be a false confession, investigators plunged deep into the Central Valley’s methamphetamine netherworld and focused on a looseknit group of violent ex-cons.

In fact, a grand jury was actually hearing evidence against this group the day after Armstrong was killed. And James Maddock, FBI agent in charge of Sacramento, maintained he was confident most of the main suspects in the sightseer case were behind bars on other charges, and that the murders were not connected.

It was Stayner, arrested three days after Armstrong’s murder, who finally unraveled the mystery, admitting to a top FBI interrogator that he single-handedly killed all four women, according to court documents. He also led investigators to weapons and other physical evidence, and later re-enacted the crimes on videotape.

SACRAMENTO — The state is asking online escrow companies that hold consumers’ money until goods ordered online are delivered to get licensed by the state or stop doing business in California.

State Department of Corporations officials say the companies can offer an extra layer of protection for cautious online buyers.

But they can also victimize both vendors and consumers if not properly regulated, said Bill McDonald, spokesman for the department.

“This tries to add another layer of protection for the consumer against fraud, to give some hope to the customer that if the products aren’t delivered, their money won’t be given to the seller,” McDonald said.

“We don’t want the customer to be doubly victimized.”

Escrow companies are trusted to release the payment after the products have been delivered, an increasingly necessary service as Internet sales grow, said Russell Stearn, who heads Escrow.com.

“If the business is unknown, especially if it’s overseas, and you want to buy something, you might be reluctant to just send them your money,” said Stearn, whose Santa Ana-based company mainly assists businesses buying goods online.

The state wants to make sure the companies can be trusted to deliver the money to the vendor once the goods are delivered, or back to the consumer if the deal falls through, said McDonald.

Escrow companies doing business in California have long been required to be licensed; the state is just starting to apply that law to online companies.

“If they’re licensed by the state of California, at least the consumer knows that they’ve had a background check, that they’ve set up proper trusts,” McDonald said.

“It’s an important protection for consumers.”

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a division of the FBI, reported that since they began tracking Internet complaints in May, 48.8 percent concerned online auctions and 19.2 percent were related to non-delivery of goods.

Of the 27 U.S.-based escrow companies identified by the state, all but three have either obtained licenses, pulled their websites or put disclaimers on their Internet sites advising that their services aren’t available in California, McDonald said.

Six of the 27 are based in California, he said.

Eight companies in Canada, Mexico and Australia have also been asked to comply with the California law, he said.

McDonald acknowledges that there isn’t much the state can do to force companies from complying with California regulations.

LOS ANGELES — With no work for nearly six months, electrician Michael Everett barely had money to survive, let alone supply medical coverage for his wife and daughter.

An injury or sudden illness would have plunged his family into insurmountable debt.

“We couldn’t afford to purchase most insurance plans,” Everett said. “So we signed on with the DGS system of health care. That stands for ‘Don’t Get Sick.”’

With health care on the agenda of both presidential candidates, California, the nation’s most populous state, is struggling to address a growing problem that leaves one in five of the state’s 34 million people without health insurance, despite the healthiest economy in a generation.

California’s uninsured rate – growing by 23,000 each month – is about 33 percent higher than the rest of the country. Only Arizona and Texas have higher rates of uninsured, according to Census data.

The plight is blamed on the state’s high cost of living (the median home price in San Francisco, for instance, is $470,000), a low number of job-related insurance programs and a large population of illegal immigrants, said E. Richard Brown, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

“Part of the reason we’re the poster child for the need for universal health program is that food, shelter and transportation are so expensive,” said Jamie Court, an analyst with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. “Families just can’t afford health insurance here.”

So far, efforts to reduce the uninsured have failed to take effect, which is bad news for other states studying California to see what kind of reform can work, said Nadereh Pourat, a senior researcher at UCLA.

“California could set an example,” she said.

A plan to extend coverage to nearly 600,000 poor parents whose children are covered by the state’s low-cost insurance program won general approval in the Legislature, but died Sept. 1 when the state Senate failed to vote on a separate bill to pay for it.

Gov. Gray Davis is considering whether to fund the program under his own authority. It would require allocating $128 million of the state’s annual $1 billion payment from a multistate tobacco settlement and another $128 million in matching federal money.

Brown also suggested shifting part of the cost of private insurance to the state, which

would set premium costs for low-wage earners based on the family’s income.

Another solution – although controversial – would be to saddle California businesses with providing health care by imposing a new tax on employers that would fund a universal health care system, Brown said.

Such an alternative might make sense to employees who find job-related health plans too expensive but earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s low-income medical insurance program.

“The poor are priced out of employer plans, but even the middle-class is finding the costs more and more unaffordable,” Brown said. “They think, ’I have no medical problems now – why spend all this money?”’

Most of California’s uninsured are part of working families, and about half are headed by at least one full-time employee, Brown said, citing figures from UCLA studies released in May and August.

Margaret Prescod, a Los Angeles-based advocate for working mothers, said her elderly mother lacked medical coverage after being struck by a car.

Her family had little money, she said, and a lack of insurance translated into a lack of care.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Nine months after he was branded a threat to national security and put in solitary confinement, Wen Ho Lee was set free Wednesday with an apology from a judge who said the government’s actions “embarrassed our entire nation.”

Supporters cheered as a smiling Lee left the courthouse alongside his family. He thanked them and said, “I’m very happy to go home with my wife and children today.”

With a chuckle, he added: “The next few days, I’m going fishing.”

Lee, 60, pleaded guilty to a single count of mishandling nuclear secrets as the government all but abandoned its crumbling case against the former Los Alamos scientist.

Under the terms of the plea bargain, he was sentenced to 278 days — essentially the time served since his arrest last December.

Lee had been charged with 59 counts of breaching national security and faced life in prison if convicted. Fifty-eight of those counts were dropped.

“I sincerely apologize to you, Dr. Lee, for the unfair manner in which you were held in custody by the executive branch,” U.S. District Judge James Parker said.

Parker said the Departments of Justice and Energy “have embarrassed our entire nation and each of us who is a citizen of it.”

Lee, a Taiwanese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, read a statement in court in which he admitted using an unsecure computer to download a national-defense document onto a tape. He said he knew his possession of the tape outside of the top-secret area where he worked was unauthorized.

Lee agreed to cooperate with the government and tell them everything he knows about seven missing tapes.

The government said that the fate of the tapes was paramount and that Lee’s willingness to explain what happened to them was the turning point in 2-month-old plea discussions. Lee has said the tapes were destroyed.

Federal prosecutor George Stamboulidis said Lee did not deserve a government apology. He called the downloaded information “a personal library” of nuclear defense secrets.

“Which Americans among us would want us to turn our backs on that?” he asked.

The judge said he was only sorry the plea agreement prevented disclosure of information that would have shed light on the reasons for Lee’s detention. Lee’s supporters have said he was unfairly singled out as a Chinese-American.

The judge, who was appointed by President Reagan, said he did not blame the prosecutors: “It is only the top decision-makers in the executive branch of the government, in particular the Department of Justice and the Department of Energy.”

The White House declined to comment on the judge’s criticism. “It is time to close this chapter, find out what happened to the missing tapes and move on,” spokesman Jake Siewert said.

Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said in Washington: “We respectfully disagree with the judge. We have an obligation to the American public to protect the national security. Before we had the assurance from Dr. Lee that he would tell us what he knows, we could not afford to do anything but detain him.”

Prosecutors also said that there are powerful incentives for Lee to cooperate.

“If at any time we believe he is not being truthful, we can seek to void the agreement and prosecute the case to the full extent of the law,” Attorney General Janet Reno said.

The investigation began as an offshoot of a Chinese espionage case, with government attorneys making dire accusations that Lee had stolen the “crown jewels” of U.S. nuclear weaponry science with the intent of handing them over to a foreign power. At the time, the government claimed the information could alter the global balance of power.

NEW YORK — Harry Potter made the list. So did “The Catcher in the Rye” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The most popular children’s books? No. The ones adults most wanted removed from library shelves in the 1990s.

“This just proves no book is safe from censorship attempts,” said Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

The top 100 titles were compiled and released in advance of the 20th annual Banned Books Week, which runs Sept. 23-30. The ALA, the American Booksellers Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors are among the sponsors.

The most disputed books were the popular “Scary Stories” titles, horror tales by the late Alvin Schwartz. Objections included violence, cannibalism and causing children to fear the dark. A complaint from the school district in Campbell County, Wyo., said the books made kids believe “ghosts are actually possible.”

Also in the top 10 were such classroom standards as Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” and Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

“The fact that teachers assign them is one of the reasons there’s so much concern,” Krug said. “They deal with issues a lot of parents don’t want to know about.”

The Harry Potter series, which Christian groups have attacked because of its themes of witchcraft and wizardry, comes in at No. 48. It was removed this year from a public school in Bridgeport Township, Mich.

According to the ALA, more than 5,000 complaints were recorded at school and public libraries in the 1990s. Krug said that represents about 20 percent to 25 percent of all challenges, although she does note the annual number has declined slightly over the past years.

“A lot of people are now spending more time thinking about Internet content,” she said.

“Sexually explicit” was the most common objection raised about books at libraries, followed by “unsuited to age group” and “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism.” Others included violence, promotion of same-sex relationships, racism and anti-family values.

Krug said about 5 percent of those complaints lead to a book being banned.

“Usually, when the rest of the community hears about a complaint it speaks out in support of keeping the book,” she said.

But many books, even famous ones, do get removed. In 1997, Angelou’s memoir was taken off the ninth-grade English curriculum in Anne Arundel County, Md., because it “portrays white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid people.”

In 1993, “Catcher in the Rye” was removed from a California school district because it “centered around negative activity.” Four years later, the superintendent of the Marysville, Calif., Joint Unified School District banned Salinger’s novel “so that we didn’t have that polarization over a book.”

Also cited are William Golding’s “The Lord of the Flies,” Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” removed in 1996 from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas, because it “conflicted with the values of the community.”

For years, AC Transit employees have worked through thick and thin with management to keep service on the streets. Claudia Hudson, vice president of Amalgamated Transit Workers Local 192, representing over 1800 AC Transit workers, says their dedication has not been rewarded. Already working since June without a contract, bus operators, maintenance workers and clerical workers represented by Local 192 voted 940-299 to reject AC Transit’s newest contract offers last Tuesday.

“We also voted to authorize a strike, which is normal,” Hudson said .

The strike authorization “sends a message to management to come back to the table with another package, and gives our executive board the ability to declare a strike in case negotiations break down.”

When asked for AC Transit management’s position on the negotiations, Mike Mills, public information manager said, “There is no public statement. We do not negotiate contracts in the press. All deals are done behind closed doors.”

Such deals, says Hudson, have always ended up unfavorably for AC transit employees.

“We are the seventh largest transit organization in the nation, and we rank 26th in income. When you consider that the Bay Area has one of the highest living costs in the nation, it’s easy to see why the union rejected this contract.”

Hudson, who has worked for the bus company for 21 years, said negotiation history shows salary increases that don’t add up to the higher demands of living in the East Bay. She herself had to move to Vallejo to own a home and live on the wage she was given.

In 1989, the union received an 8 percent increase only for bus operators, and created a two-tier wage scale in maintenance, dividing the union’s members. In 1992, a two year freeze limited wages to those 1989 levels. 1994 negotiations lead to a 9 percent increase until 1997, when a 75 cent increase was negotiated.

Now, with the 1997 contract elapsed, management brought a 20 percent raise over the next three years to the table.

The timing of the possible strike is also important. Measure B is on the November ballot. If the voters approve the measure, it would extend a half-cent sales tax that will go, in part, toward expanding AC Transit services.

Since 1986, Measure B has allocated $11 million annually to AC Transit operations. Renewing the measure would increase that amount to $21 million, an increase of $10 million a year, which Mills says would, “maintain today’s levels of service and open up new levels of service.”

Very little of this money, however would go to the workers, Hudson said.

“This money is going to the daily costs of running operations. Not even a fourth of it would go to employees,” she said.

Already, proposals to add service to the Berkeley-Oakland-San Leandro corridor have been drawn up, along with “street car” services along San Pablo Boulevard, Mills said.

“These would help develop neighborhoods along the line, and increase service along what are already very busy corridors.”

Should Measure B fail to pass, however, “the picture wouldn’t be as optimistic” Mills said.

“It would amount to a $10 million decrease in operating expenses.” While Mills did not say that job cuts would result, “changes can’t be determined. But it’ll have a substantial impact.”

The commission will discuss Project Impact disaster funding, I-80 overpass amenities, removal of obstacles from the sidewalk and more.

Second annual

Bertram Gross Award

7 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

The campaign to abolish poverty/full employment Coalition presents the second Annual Bertram Gross Award. Gross, 1912-1998, was the chief author of the Roosevelt Full Employment Act, the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act and the current full employment legislation HR1050.

Award recipients are Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Amaha Kassa, East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economy and Pat Ford, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union.

Music by Barbara Dane. $10-$15; nobody turned away for lack of funds.

Berkeley Energy Commission

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst St.

Among the topics for discussion will be a report on renewable energy and a report on residential energy consumption.

665-3486

Thursday, Sept. 14

Eugene O’Neil House,

Mt. Diablo State Park Trip

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way

$21 per person

644-6107

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force

6:30 p.m.

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way

Agenda items include public comment time and sampling reviews

486-4387

Pre-business workshop

Small-business Development Center

519 17th St. Suite 200, Oakland

8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

$35

273-6611, www.eastbayscore.org, eastbayscore@yahoo.com

Yoga class

2 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

What next for Haiti?

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Avenue,

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Community Health

Commission

6:45 - 9:45 p.m.

Mental Health Clinic

2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

Among topics to be discussed are medical marijuana and genetically engineered/modified foods and Berkeley high school lunch issues.

644-6500

Friday, Sept. 15

“The Barber of Seville”

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

“Lift the Sanctions from Iraq”

Interfaith Brunch & Community Gathering

Talk by Denis Halliday, Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General

10:30 a.m. -noon

Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento

(510) 527-8370

Saturday, Sept. 16

Shoreline clean-up walk

10 a.m.

Seabreeze Market, on Frontage Road just west of University Avenue

Friends of Five Creeks leads a walk, talking about

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Bring gloves, sunscreen and hat and help clean up the shoreline.

644-8623; TDD 644-6915

Sunday, Sept. 17

Berkeley Citizen’s Action

Endorsement Meeting

2-5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

To include local and state endorsements. Please place this upcoming event in your listings.

Sunday, Sept. 24

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others

848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Tour Mission District Gardens

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

One of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance for this fall. Tour SF’s Mission District and learn about the role of gardens and open space in community planning.

Call: 415-255-3233 to make reservations

Sunday, October 1

Return of the Raptors to Marin

Drivers: 11:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Bikers: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Witness the migration of birds of prey over the Marin Headlands. Includes a hawk talk and banding demonstration and lunch at Rodeo Lagoon. Bike from SF or meet at Hawk Hill. Part of Greenbelt Alliance’s series of free outings.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Monday, October 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

Saturday, October 7

Celebrate Open Garden Day by joining this annual bicycle tour of local community and school gardens. Part of a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Houses or Open Hills?

10 a.m.

Experience Black Diamond Mines Regional Park’s ghost towns, coal mines, spectacular views and open space on this hike by the proposed sites of 7,700 homes near Antioch. Cosponsored by Save Mount Diablo. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

Sunday, October 8

Surmounting Sunol Peaks

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about local geology while enjoying the panoramic views from three Sunol peaks. One outing in a free series organized by Greenbelt Alliance.

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting

6 p.m.

2022 Blake St.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch.

An exhibit of rare and exquisite works featuring more than forty mandalas and related objects including sculptures and models of sacred spaces.

“Hans Hoffmann,” open-ended.

An exhibit of paintings by Hoffmann which emphasizes two experimental methods the artist employed: the introduction of slabs or rectangles of highly saturated colors and the use of large areas of black paint juxtaposed with intense oranges, greens and yellows.

The Asian Galleries

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended.

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended.

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended.

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

642-0808.

UC Berkeley Museum of

Paleontology

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing.

“Pteranodon,” ongoing.

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California.

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum.

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing.

This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe.

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org.

Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery

942 Clay St., Oakland

625-1350

www.lizabetholiveria.com

Tuesday- Saturday

10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m..

Franklin Williams exhibit through Sept. 30

TRAX Gallery

1306 3rd. St., Berkeley

Mary Law “Altered Ceramic Pots”

Sept 16- Oct. 21

Opening reception: 5- 7 p.m., Sept. 16

For more information or to sign up for the workshop call 526-0279 or e-mail to cone5@aol.com

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes.

Tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

“MIMZABIM!”

Climate Theatre & Subterranean Shakespeare

La Vals Subterraniean 1834 Euclid, Berkeley

Through Oct. 14

Thursday - Saturday 8:00 p.m.

$12, Students $8

Julie Morgan Theatre

Fanny at Chez Panisse

Musical based on the book with opening proceeds going to the Verde Partnership Garden in Richmond.

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh

Through Oct. 15

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space.

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour.

Free. University of California, Berkeley.

486-4387

Berkeley City Club Tours

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle.

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon to 4 p.m.

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley.

848-7800

Golden Gate Live Steamers

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes.

Tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

“MIMZABIM!”

Climate Theatre & Subterranean Shakespeare

La Vals Subterraniean 1834 Euclid, Berkeley

Through Oct. 14

Thursday - Saturday 8:00 p.m.

$12, Students $8

Julie Morgan Theatre

Fanny at Chez Panisse

Musical based on the book with opening proceeds going to the Verde Partnership Garden in Richmond.

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh

Through Oct. 15

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space.

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour.

Free. University of California, Berkeley.

486-4387

Berkeley City Club Tours

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle.

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon to 4 p.m.

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley.

848-7800

Golden Gate Live Steamers

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.

In a move that has catapulted the normally low-key Berkeley Police Association into the public arena, a strongly-worded letter sent by the association’s attorneys to Police Chief Dash Butler was also sent to the city manager and to the City Council, rendering the caustic document public.

The Sept. 6 letter, delivered anonymously to the Daily Planet, honed in on the department’s modifying a procedure for handling suspects without consultation with the BPA.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg, BPA attorney Michael Rains wrote. “At best, this issue is the manifestation of a managerial philosophy rooted in inflexibility and autocracy, rather than one in which the voice of our employees is sincerely sought out and heard before final decisions relating to terms and conditions of employment become etched in policy memoranda.”

Not so, said Butler in a phone

interview Tuesday.

“I have a meeting with BPA every Wednesday afternoon. We talk about issues.”

Rains said, however, that officers tell him that the chief meets but does not listen.

Butler, a member of the Berkeley force for 30 years and chief for 10, says there are numerous examples of department policy being modified as a result of consultation with the union. One is the issue of pepper spray.

The City Council had wanted officers’ spray cans tabbed, so that it would be known when they were used. However, the tabs interfered with effective use. The chief said union brought the issue to him and he brought it to the council and got the policy modified.

The specific complaint addressed in the letter deals with an order by Captain Will Pittman who advised officers of a change in policy.

“It appears over the years, we have developed a practice of asking,directing persons removed from a vehicle and/or those detained on city streets, to sit down on the curb of the pavement with their feet placed in the street,” said the directive. “The above-described practice is not a departmentally-approved technique...Placing people on the ground unnecessarily is demeaning and is a practice not supported by the department. Therefore, effective immediately, a report will be written whenever a citizen is placed on the ground (lying or sitting)....”

Alison Berry Wilkinson, attorney for the BPA, responded to Pittman’s order in a July 31 letter: This method is “taught in all (police) academies and is utilized in your departmental training.”

Although some might feel the tactic is “demeaning,” when it is used correctly, it “reduces the number of officers required to control a situation and eliminates the need to use more intrusive (and potentially more demeaning) techniques.” It is less intrusive than handcuffing suspects or putting them in the back seat of a patrol car, stated the July 31 letter to Butler.

Further, the association lawyers argue that the instruction is ambiguous: how can officers be directed not to sit people on the sidewalk, then be told that when they do this, they’re supposed to write a report?

“Officers would conclude that, if it is not approved or supported, use of the technique could hold the officer subject to discipline,” Officer Douglas Emberton wrote in a July 22 e-mail to Pittman.

Butler, however, said he stands firmly behind the directive. “If they tell you to sit cross-legged on the ground, how are you going to feel if you haven’t tried to run or tried to fight?” he asked.

As for the question of ambiguity, Butler argued that the order did not imply that officers could never use the procedure.

Writing a report when they do make people sit on the sidewalk it would make them reflect on their action. “It’s a catalyst for introspection,” the chief said.

Although the technique of having suspects sit on the curb was cited with a particular emphasis, the BPA listed other complaints against the department that include alleged misrepresentation to the BPA around promotional opportunities and derogatory statements including the use of profanity concerning the BPA made by Pittman.

While the BPA alleges that a second promotional list was established that added persons not on an earlier unused list, the chief said the promotions had been meted out strictly according to department rules and that all the persons had scored as they should on exams.

The chief said if in fact, the alleged foul language had been used by Pittman, the officers should have brought it to his attention earlier. He said he would look into the allegations, and that he and other ranking officers would be attending classes on improved communications.

As far as what needs to be done in response to the letter, Butler said he is in touch with the BPA attorneys and has asked them to determine exactly what the BPA wants.

“They have a very smart chief,” Rains said. “The officers just want the chief to (allow them to) give their input.”

Acting City Manager Weldon Rucker said he plans to step in and try to bring the two sides together. “I would like to see a better dialog between the administration and the association,” he said. “Unfortunately, (the union) has elected to go to this (public) level so soon.”

Rucker said he believes the problem will be resolved. “We’ll get to the root cause. They are all good people who want a healthy work environment.”

OAKLAND – A federal judge did not hear motions Tuesday to dismiss some of the charges against Berkeley landlord Lakireddy Bali Reddy and his son accused of sex and immigration offenses.

Instead U.S. District Court Judge Sandra B. Armstrong gave the prosecution the time it requested to add new defendants to the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kennedy would not specify how many more defendants he would name, but did tell Armstrong that the charges against them would be similar to those against Reddy and his son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy.

The pair allegedly brought three Indian women to the Bay Area on special high-tech worker visas and then kept them for Reddy as sexual objects and menial laborers at his Berkeley restaurant, Pasand Madras Cuisne.

Lakireddy is charged with filing the false visa applications that enabled his father to import the women.

Kennedy said he would present any new indictments by Oct. 5.

Reddy appeared in Armstrong’s marble and wood paneled courtroom to ask that the judge dismiss two of the nine charges against him.

His lawyer, Ted W. Cassman, has argued that charges he imported the women “for immoral purposes” is too vague to be constitutional and in any case do not apply to Reddy’s alleged acts because any sex with the women was consensual.

But Cassman never formally presented that argument because of Kennedy‘s request to delay the process so he could finish his investigation.

Armstrong granted the delay and asked both parties to return Oct. 10 to schedule further appearances, when the substance of the case will be discussed.

The events were anticlimactic for a case that made national news in January, when Berkeley police arrested Reddy and charged him with bringing two young women – said to be minors – from India for the purpose of having sex with them.

Still, a group of protesters, present at all the court hearings on the matter, objected to the attempt by Reddy’s attorney to remove any charges.

“Any sexual activity that may have occurred between Reddy and the immigrant women needs to be recognized and named as sexual assault,” said Shaily Matani, a member of the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action. “Reddy is wealthy, well-connected, and controls the workers’ immigration and employment status. It is not possible to truly give consent to someone who holds your entire livelihood in their hands.”

Reddy arrived in the Bay Area from India more than 40 years ago to study engineering at UC Berkeley and stayed to become Berkeley’s wealthiest landlord, with 1,100 apartment units reportedly worth $70 million. He is free on a $10 million bond.

UC Berkeley and the Jose Marti National Library of Cuba proudly announce a unique and historic pact in which, retrieved from the depths of the Cuban archives, the University has received – grocery bags.

“From a publishing house called Avigia in the city of Matansas, we have handmade books,” said Carlos Delgado, librarian for Latin American collections at UC Berkeley. “They were made with whatever materials they had. Some are made with grocery bags. That’s what they had, so that’s what they used. It’s an example of doing creative things with very little resources.”

The grocery bag books are but a small selection of the Cuban literary and cultural paraphernalia on display in UC Berkeley’s Doe Library in celebration of the first-of-its kind research pact. Delgado brainstormed the partnership two years ago, when he met with Cuban national library director Eliades Acosta at a conference for heads of national libraries in Venezuela.

While UC Berkeley has a similar partner ship with the Chilean national library, Delgado says the Jose Marti National Library of Cuba has never before entered into a research pact with an overseas library.

“We get books and posters. The idea is, we get access to their collection by what we call a ‘duplicate collection,’ materials they already have several copies of. I went down there in December and selected almost 2,000 titles and shipped them to Berkeley.

“For them, we’re going to be buying U.S.-printed books about Cuba by Cuban authors in exile and shipping those to them,” continues Delgado. “Those are books that Cubans can’t buy directly from the U.S. because of restrictions on commerce.”

The partnership with the Caribbean nation’s national library is a “perfect fit” for Berkeley scholars, says Delgado.

“Here in Berkeley, there is an increasing interest in studying the Caribbean. Several years ago we started a Ph.D. program called ‘Diaspora Studies’ about the immigration of Africans to America: the slave trade,” explains the librarian. “You can’t study this movement without bumping right into the Caribbean.”

“This means that we have access to materials that are simply not available anywhere else in the country,” says Charles Faulhaber, head of the Bancroft Library. “If you’re doing scholarly research on anything relating to Cuba; its relation with the U.S., relations with Latin America, socio-economics, Cuban literature – it’s kind of like asking what kind of research about the U.S. could be aided if you had materials published in the U.S. I mean – everything!”

Despite the century of contentious relations between the United States and Cuba, and the politically charged atmosphere most recently ignited by the Elian Gonzalez debacle, UC Berkeley librarians insist that the pact is not a political statement but a scholarly one.

“One of the things libraries do as part of their core value is collect materials that reflect all sides of an issue, as many sides as you can,” says Patricia Iannuzzi, an associate university librarian and the director of Doe and Moffit libraries.

“I believe an individual needs the right to access an issue and draw his or her own conclusions. Because of the embargo, libraries in the U.S. have limited access to materials. We’d like to be able to provide the research community with access to those materials.”

While details of the pact are largely agreed upon, it has not been completely finalized because of possible copyright issues emanating from UC Berkeley’s intended posting of Cuban revolutionary posters on the Web. Delgado says he believes these sticking points will be ironed out within a few months, and that these details will not disrupt the exchange of materials between the libraries.

Today’s celebration will feature a speech on the Spanish-American War by Jose Marti National Library of Cuba director Eliades Acosta near the north entrance to Doe Library at 4 p.m. The 17 cases of Cuban historical materials will be on public display there until October 15. To view the posters on the web go to http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~lcush/CubaGen.html.

More runways at San Francisco International Airport could smooth the way for better-flowing air traffic, but objections to the plan from Bay area residents are likely to trigger some heavy turbulence.

Concerned San Mateo County residents packed a meeting in Redwood City last night to discuss the environmental impacts of a proposed runway expansion at SFO onto Bay fill.

Three people in the front and center of the runway debate – Lyn Calerdine of SFO, Peter Thorn of Save the Bay and Ralph Nobles of the Restore San Francisco Bay Associates – fielded questions for about an hour last night at the Redwood City public library, discussing the merits and faults of a evelopment plan that many residents fear is a fait accompli.

Virtually all citizens in attendance expressed disapproval of the idea of filling in more of the Bay. More than one person pointedly questioned airport officials' stated motives and methods, giving planners plenty of food for thought as they prepare for the complex approval process.

It was also the first opportunity for Peninsula residents to ask questions about the Regional Airport Planning Committee report issued Friday, which recommended the construction of new runways.

The committee's report has been widely characterized as a blank check for airport officials in San Francisco and Oakland to go ahead with plans to build new runways out onto San Francisco Bay.

“A lot of us think they dropped the ball,'' Thorner said in reference to the plan, which was summarily blasted by environmentalists last week, claiming it lacked vision and blindly accepted airline projections of a doubling of demand in the next 20 years.

Thorner also reiterated complaints that the board's plan lacked substantive discussion of alternatives to runway construction, and failed to coordinate regional transit needs.

“Should the airlines operate within the environment that exists,” he asked, “or should they be allowed to modify the environment?”

Under its current configuration, airport officials must shut down two of four runways in foggy or inclement conditions – cutting the number of arriving and departing flights in half. This is because the 750 feet of space between parallel strips violates certain Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.

“The project is based on an existing need, not just on a forecast need,” he said.

Calerdine also said the problem of alleviating the area's congested runways and air corridors was not one of regional planning, but of federal laws that prevent the airports from forcing airlines to alter or reschedule flights.

“RAPC is not in the business of changing the law,” he said, later noting that the airport has tried to pressure its biggest carrier, United Airlines, to increase the size of its planes and reduce the frequency of its shuttle flights, without success. “The fact is, it's not going to help in terms of solving the delay

problem,” he said. “You just can't tell the airlines where to fly.”

Thorner said that if the law is the problem, then the law needs to go.

“I would suggest that we do need to change the law,” he declared, to mild applause from the public.

“It may be that getting airlines to operate rationally, within our environment, may require a change,” he said.

The evening’s only real note of moderation came from Nobles, an environmentalist who would prefer trading off the runway expansion for the restoration of as much as 45 square miles of South Bay salt ponds, owned by the Cargill Salt Corp.

“I think that when you can make the Bay healthier and larger, then that’s something you have got to do,” he said.

After the meeting, SFO's Calerdine said he respected residents’ input, even if much of it opposed the airport's cause.

“It's good to have a lot of differing opinion,” he said. “That means we're going to be held to a high standard.” He continued, “The burden is going to be on us to prove the project can be done in a responsible manner.”

SAN FRANCISCO — New restrictions that keep halibut gill nets farther from shore have the fishing industry wondering how it will make its catch and wildlife conservation groups cheering over potentially fewer wildlife drownings.

The state Department of Fish and Game on Tuesday issued an order that forbids the use of gill nets and trammel nets for the next 120 days in the shallow ocean waters near Monterey Bay and Morro Bay – prime halibut fishing areas that had been the last left accessible to gillnetters on the coast.

David Bunn, deputy director of the department, says fish and game officials issued the order after seeing the last week’s results of a year-long survey of fishing impacts on coastal animal populations.

The 120-day restriction may expand to a permanent ban after a public hearing in Seaside next week, Bunn said.

That’s great news to Carol Fulton Yates, former executive director of the Monterey-based conservation group Friends of the Sea Otter.

“We’re not against fishermen or fishing but they need to use a method that doesn’t drown marine birds or mammals,” Fulton Yates said. “We are very grateful to the director for putting these closures into place.”

Fishermen view the order as “another nail in the coffin” for the industry, says James Mauney, a wholesale fish buyer in Morro Bay.

“If you go out past 60 fathoms you won’t affect the marine mammals or the birds but the fish aren’t there, either,” Mauney said. “This is completely out of the blue.”

Not so, says Bunn. The department did meet with some of the affected fishermen last week, Bunn said. He said the decision was hard to make, but that the study showed that the nets were killing species that the state has pledged to protect such as the southern sea otter and the common murre, which dives to great depths in search of food.

In Monterey Bay, for example, Bunn says national Marine Fisheries Services observers noted that gill nets and trammel nets caught and drowned 5,200 of the birds. Bunn said more than 100 sea otters a year are killed by the nets.

Gill nets are mesh nets similar to a volleyball net, that are buoyed and weighted on the edges and are left in the water to catch fish for around 12 hours. The mesh is sized to catch the desired fish and allow smaller fish to escape.

But the nets have proved deadly to marine mammals and shore birds who are too large to avoid the nets.

The order goes into effect Wednesday and bans gill net and trammel net fishing in ocean waters which was 360 feet or less in depth between Point Reyes in to Yankee Point and from Point Arguello to Point Sal.

SAN FRANCISCO — Consumer advocates told an appeals court Tuesday that the state is giving its blessing to insurance companies that violate a voter-approved measure to reduce auto insurance rates.

Under Proposition 103, passed in 1988, the bulk of auto insurance rates were to be calculated based on a driver’s record, annual miles traveled and number of years behind the wheel, a group of consumer groups told the state’s 1st District Court of Appeal.

But the insurance industry is basing a large part of premiums on where somebody lives, violating the measure and resulting in huge premium disparities among similar drivers.

“Twelve years after voters passed Proposition 103, insurance companies are still using ZIP codes as the single most important factor in setting auto rates,” said Mark Savage, an attorney with Public Advocates, which is representing a variety of community groups in the suit.

A woman with 27 years driving experience living in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, for example, would pay a $772 annual premium compared to $281 if she lived in San Luis Obispo. Her premium is 63 percent higher solely because of her ZIP code, Public Advocates said.

The insurance industry said there’s a good reason for charging higher premiums based on where drivers live. Drivers in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, for example, pay more because it costs more to insure motorists in high-crime and high-accident areas.

If the consumer groups prevail, the industry said premiums for motorists in other areas will increase to subsidize others.

“What’s going to happen, in most counties in California, rates are going to go up,” said Vanessa Wells, a State Farm Insurance Co. lawyer.

Savage told the court that even if it is more expensive in those areas to issue insurance, Proposition 103 forbids insurance companies from using ZIP codes as a primary factor when calculating rates.

Justice Marc Poche said the Department of Insurance’s rules allowing ZIP codes to weigh heavily in premiums was out of line with Proposition 103. But the court said it would hold off on ruling until a new insurance commissioner has an opportunity to review the department’s rules.

SAN FRANCISCO — Motel handyman Cary Stayner has agreed to plead guilty to the murder of a Yosemite naturalist in a deal that will spare him a federal execution, but he still faces a possible death sentence if convicted of killing three sightseers.

The plea is scheduled to be entered Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Fresno before Judge Anthony W. Ishii. In exchange, Stayner will be sentenced at a later date to life in prison without parole, federal law enforcement sources told The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

Stayner, 39, initially pleaded innocent to charges of kidnapping, attempted sexual assault and murder in the July 21, 1999, death of Joie Armstrong, who led children on nature hikes.

The case was being prosecuted in federal court because she was killed in Yosemite National Park.

A change of venue had been granted and a trial date set for April 10.

U.S. Attorney Paul Seave and Assistant Federal Defender Robert Rainwater did not immediately return phone calls for comment.

Lesli Armstrong, who has said publicly that she would prefer not to sit through a trial and hear the details of her daughter’s murder, could not immediately be reached.

She is expected to attend Wednesday’s hearing.

Prosecutors considered the sentiments of the Armstrong family in agreeing to drop their pursuit of a death sentence in return for the plea, according to a federal source.

The plea bargain will not affect the state’s plan to seek the death penalty against Stayner in the murders of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and family friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, of Cordoba, Argentina.

The three women were killed five months before Armstrong, during a sightseeing trip to Yosemite National Park.

They had been staying at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal, where Stayner lived and worked.

Mariposa County prosecutors, who had unsuccessfully appealed to Attorney General Janet Reno for the right to proceed first with their case, can go forward once Stayner is formally sentenced on the federal charges. No pleas have been entered and no hearing dates set in the Sund-Pelosso murders.

Carole Carrington, Mrs. Sund’s mother, said Tuesday she was surprised prosecutors agreed to the guilty plea in Armstrong’s murder, since they were pushing for the death penalty.

But she is relieved the state’s case can proceed sooner.

“I’d like to get it going,” she said in a telephone interview from her Eureka ranch. “I just hope they have it all figured out now.”

Relatives of the Sunds and Pelossos are mixed about whether they want a death sentence.

Carrington said she and her husband, Francis, would be satisfied if Stayner gets a parallel sentence of life in prison without parole. Raquel and Pepe Pelosso, Silvina’s parents, oppose the death penalty.

Stayner, who according to sources has confessed to single-handedly killing all four women, has been in custody since his arrest three days after Armstrong was killed.

He is being held in isolation at the Fresno County Jail.

Delbert Stayner said he and his wife, Kay, visit their son weekly, and that the government’s agreement to drop its demands for the death penalty answered their prayers.

Stayner is a brother of Steven Stayner, the center of a highly publicized kidnapping case two decades ago.

Steven was snatched off a Merced street at age 7 in 1972. He remained missing for seven years, then was hailed as a hero for finally going to police when his abductor kidnapped another boy.

Greg Martin hushes his first grade, two-way immersion class, and cuts out the lights.

“Tranquilo,” says the Cragmont Elementary School teacher.

He gives every instruction to the class in perfect Spanish.

The 3-year-old K to 5 program has the administration, teachers and parents raving about its results. In kindergarten and first grade, the children receive 90 percent of instruction in Spanish. In second and third grade, 60-80 percent of the instruction is in Spanish. Fourth- and fifth- graders study half the time in English and half the time in Spanish.

The program is aimed at producing bilingual and biliterate students. Research by Virginia P. Collier and Wayne P. Thomas shows that the students come away from the program not only with the ability to read and write in a different language, but also with a greater mental flexibility.

Research from similar programs in the state that have been in operation for over seven years shows that many students have a much greater capacity for complex subject matter at the secondary level and often experience honors status and enroll in advanced placement classes.

The program is funded by a Title VII foreign language grant at Rosa Parks, Cragmont and LeConte elementary schools. Rosa Parks (then Columbus) and Cragmont were the first to implement the program in 1998. LeConte began the program just this year.

“We have a waiting list,” said Cragmont principal Jason Lustig. “Every year people want to get their kids in.”

The children are chosen by lottery, and parents lucky enough to have kids in the program, tend to keep them there.

“What we’re seeing is that we don’t have normal attrition,” Lustig said. “Parents in Berkeley are really committed to this program. It’s really exciting.”

Some eight students from the first two-way immersion class at Cragmont beginning in the fall of 1998 have left. Every kindergartner in the program last year returned.

The program now has to address the problem next year when children will enter fourth grade, where children are instructed at a 27 to one ratio, rather than 20 to one.

Next year, the first crop of kids in the program will be moving into the fourth grade at Rosa Parks and Cragmont schools.

At last week’s school board meeting, a dozen or so parents of children in the program showed up in support of the program.

Lustig said that parents, staff and school board members have been raising the question of what will happen when the class size is supposed to increase. “We’ve known that next year we would have to be ready,” he said.

Lustig said that in such an intensive program where students are preparing for literacy in two languages, it would hinder the level of instruction and impede the progress of other two-way immersion students if they added new students to get to the mandated 27.

A task force spearheaded by Lustig and Rosa Parks Title VII grant coordinator Allison Kelley met six times last school year and put together two plans for the school board to choose from.

In the first plan, which Lustig said is the most likely to be implemented, the two-way immersion students would be taught science and math in Spanish in the morning, then history and language arts in the afternoon.

The following year, the students would flip-flop morning and afternoon subjects – history and language arts instruction in Spanish in the morning, with the other subjects taught in the afternoon in English.

Lustig said this program would cost the schools roughly $15,000 each to implement this program, but said that they don’t consider cost to be a serious barrier.

The second plan would be to designate an entire site in Berkeley as two-way immersion. Lustig said that by choosing a specific school as two-way immersion, the district would be able to serve a greater number of students and a provide a more cohesive program.

Once a site was chosen the program would be phased in over time with one grade-level each year, which would take six years to extend from kindergarten to the fifth grade.

Such as having an entire school community supporting the educational objectives. It would also solve the dilemma of compromising the percentage of time needed for English language development by maintaining the appropriate percentages of enrichment classes taught.

Superintendent Jack McLaughlin said they hope to sort it out and make a decision by early November.

When two-term Councilmember Diane Woolley decided not to run for another term on the City Council, a crush of five council hopefuls emerged to try for the District 5 seat. The district sits in the lower north hills area, roughly between Spruce Street on the east and the line formed by Neilson and Acton streets on the west and between Kensignton-Albany on the north and Vine Street on the south. To find if you live in District 5, call the city clerk’s office at 644-6840.

The area, which includes Live Oak Park and King Middle School, has a population that is wealthier than the average Berkeley household. The approximate median household income (averaged between the five census tracts that are in the district, but spill out of it as well) in 1989 was about $53,000 well above the city’s median income of $29,000 at the time. The median home price was about $316,000, compared to the citywide median of $256,500 at the time.

Mark Fowler

Although Mark Fowler has no experience in government, he understands some of the nuts and bolts that make the city’s operations work. Among other occupations, the 56 year-old candidate for the District 5 council seat has worked as a welder/mechanic for the Public Works Department in Richmond.

A frequent caller to a nighttime KGO radio talk show, where he has honed his oratory skills, Fowler has volunteered his time at Free Radio Berkeley, the local low-powered pirate radio station and for the Berkeley Black Repertory Theater.

Fowler is running for office on the principle of “accountability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents. The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home. The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said.

Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station. For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.ability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents.

The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home.

The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said. Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station.

For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.ability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents.

The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home.

The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said. Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station.

For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.ability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents.

The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home.

The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said. Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station.

For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.ability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents.

The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home.

The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said. Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station.

For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.ability.” Projects should be completed by a date certain, he said.

Moreover, the city pays too much in compensation for employee accidents.

The problems that cause the accidents should be cured, he said.

Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas on accident prevention – $100 a month could be awarded to the worker who has the best safety idea.

And, people should be encouraged to do their work in fewer hours, then go home.

The last part of the day is the time that employees have the most accidents, Fowler said.

The traffic problem could be solved by offering free bus passes, he said.

As for rent control, Fowler said in the beginning, he thought it was a good idea. But landlords have withdrawn units from the marketplace because of it, he said. Students should have subsidized housing, but they should have to pay back the subsidy when they are working , he said.

Public participation in city government could be expanded with better use of the community cable TV station.

For example, before the council meetings, someone could go through the items that are coming up and explain them.

As for the 170-foot communications tower next to the Public Safety Building, Fowler said, “leave it to Stephen Dunifer (of Free Radio Berkeley) and the others to use.”

Fowler said he didn’t know exactly how much he’ll be spending on his campaign. “Not very much,” he said.

His campaign can be reached at 841-8520.

Miriam Hawley

backed by the mayor, who is part of the council’s moderate faction, but says she “has a lot of respect and affection for everyone on the council.”

Hawley said the problems of items languishing on the council agenda for months could be solved, in part, by the issues going to staff for their review early in the process. “That would help the discussion,” she said.

Transit, naturally, is among the issues Hawley said she would be able to address on the council. She was among those who got the “class pass” instituted at UC Berkeley. All students pay a transit fee with their student fees. Those who want to take advantage of “free” unlimited bus rides, get the “class pass” to use for a semester.

Hawley would like to institute a similar pass for other Berkeley residents.

She wants to set up a study on how it would work. It could be funded by employers or groups of commuters, she said.

Parking, Hawley said, is another big issue. Creating satellite lots may be one answer.

One of the big issues the council will address after the elections is the choice of a new city manager. “Weldon Rucker is well-accepted,” she said, referring to the interim city manager. “But I think he doesn’t want to do this forever.”

The person selected would have to be able to work with both council factions, she said.

Addressing the city’s housing needs, “We need to pursue a regional approach,” working with nearby cities, Hawley said. “We need to work together.”

Hawley said she is in favor of zoning for “some higher buildings,” but not higher that 10-stories and not a concentration of them on one block. And they should not surround the library, which “needs space to be admired.”

“They need to be spread through downtown,” she said.

What is important, she said, is building a “walkable, bikeable” area.

As for Beth El, the synagogue-school proposed near Live Oak Park, Hawley said it would not be appropriate for her to take “a firm, irrevocable position.”

The issue needs mediation between the neighbors and those representing the synagogue, she said, noting that she moderated a meeting between the two sides on behalf of the League of Women Voters.

Despite the fact that she doesn’t like the lack of clarity in Measure Y, restrictions on landlord move-in evictions, Hawley said she will support it.

“I’d like to see it be a stop-gap measure,” she said. “I would work for some amendments.”

The health disparities between the hills Caucasians and flatlands African Americans “came as a shock to everyone,” she said.

“We may need to work with the city of Berkeley’s health department to beef up services,” she said, arguing that it is a question of outreach and education and bringing people into the system. “People don’t know what services are available,” she said.

Hawley said she hopes to raise $7-$10,000 for her race. If she’s elected she plans to be a full-time councilmember.

Hawley can be reached at 527-7727 or mrhawley@att.net.

Tom Kelly

“I’ll work with issues and not worry about (political) relationships,” he said.

Kelly, who works for the State Department of Health to get funding for researchers investigating the environmental causes of non-infectious disease, said he’s financing his own campaign and plans to keep expenses to around $2,000, although he has supporters who are volunteering their skills for his campaign.

The candidate is a graduate of the City University of New York Law School, which encourages graduates to avoid litigation and use alternative dispute resolution practices. He has some ideas about improving the climate on the council.

Changing the city manager – Interim City Manager Weldon Rucker took over the city last month when the former city manager left his post – will “change the chemistry” of the council meetings, he said. The council and department heads should get together in a workshop, where they will develop communication skills with one another, he said.

The bottom line is that all the councilmembers are “nice, smart well-intentioned people,” he said.

The housing problem is regional, Kelly said, but the city still needs to take responsibility for providing more housing.

Medium-to-high density housing, both affordable and market rate, should be constructed, he said. Buildings of three-to-five stories fit nicely into neighborhoods, he said, adding that low and medium income people should be able to purchase their own units.

If they are built near where people work and shop, that would help remedy the traffic problem, he said.

Another way to get people out of their cars is for the city to promote a program such as the state is doing and allow people to purchase BART cards with pre-tax dollars.

Beth El is a difficult issue, Kelly said, addressing the land-use issue that will likely come before the council in the coming months.

“The charge of NIMBYISM undermines an attempt to find a solution,” he said, adding that he can understand the points of view of both the synagogue which needs a larger building and the neighbors who feel the project is too big for the site.

Kelly supports Measure Y. “Housing is not a commodity that should be subject to the vagaries to of the market place,” he said. “People should feel safe and secure in their living situations.”

Kelly’s website is www.electtomkelly.org and he can be reached at jandtkelly@igc.org.

Carrie Olson

Carrie Olson has lived in Berkeley all her 47 years. She’s an active member of the Landmarks Commission, appointed by City Councilmember Linda Maio, volunteered in the schools for ten years before that and has been a member of the AC Transit Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

Olson, a business woman who works for moveon.org, decries the division she sees on the council, which, she said, continues to the commission level. Commissions are made up of council appointees. Olson said she doesn’t plan to become part of either council faction, but would accept the endorsement of either.

New blood on the council may be able to heal some of the division, Olson said. “We need to be able to speak to each other.”

Olson said she has been watching the General Plan process and working with Students for a Livable Southside, who have pushed for alternatives to the Southside Plan.

“I support more housing built in Berkeley,” Olson said. “But you don’t have to build high-rises.”

Instead, build infill that is “contextually sensitive,” she said, pointing to large homes that have been transformed into comfortable apartments.

There should be incentives for developers to build carfree housing near campus. More affordable housing should be built in order to help maintain the city’s diversity, she said.

Students need affordable housing as well, which does not mean stuffing three to four students into an apartment. “I’m not a fan of the Gaia Building,” Olson said, referring to developer Patrick Kennedy’s building going up on Allston Way. “It will become a rabbit warren for students.”

She said there are Kennedy buildings that are of more appropriate scale, such as the four-story building at University Avenue and Grant Street.

Building apartments over retail is good, to a degree, she said. But the city needs to recognize that as some point, an excess of retail could be developed, she said.

Addressing the traffic problem, Olson said putting in light rail that goes from the MacArthur BART Station to the campus would help a lot. Olson said, however, she recognizes that some people have a need for their cars.

As for the question of building the Beth El Synagogue and school on property near Live Oak Park, Olson said she was among the Landmarks Commissioners who said that the Draft Environmental Impact Report showed an “inadequate analysis of historical resources.”

Moreover, she said, the document does not reveal the size and bulk of the building that is proposed.

At the same time, Olson said she understood Beth El’s need for a new synagogue.

If elected, Olson said she would serve the whole community, not just her district. But at the same time, she said she will be an advocate for the nuts and bolts things the district needs, such as sewers and street repairs.

Olson said, in general, she’s not supportive of increased taxes. With the increasing cost of housing and taxes tied to that, “the city has a windfall it will receive in the next few years,” she said.

Those funds should be used for city needs rather than raising more taxes, she said. At the same time, she said she supports some of the taxes on the November ballot such as the retrofit of the branch libraries and funding for parks.

“I’m not quick to jump up and say we need a lot of money spent on schools,” she said, questioning where past school facilities’ money has gone. “I’d rather see teachers paid more,” she said.

While Olson said she is supportive of the idea of protecting disabled and older renters, she questions Measure Y, the restrictions for owner move-in on the ballot, which goes beyond the protection of those two classes of people.

Olson said she will be spending “as little as possible,” on her campaign. She’s working with a “core-group” of supporters, including two women volunteers, whom she declined to name, who are “experts” in the field.

Her website is at www.carrieolson.com.

Carrie Olson has lived in Berkeley all her 47 years. She’s an active member of the Landmarks Commission, appointed by City Councilmember Linda Maio, volunteered in the schools for ten years before that and has been a member of the AC Transit Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

Olson, a business woman who works for moveon.org, decries the division she sees on the council, which, she said, continues to the commission level. Commissions are made up of council appointees. Olson said she doesn’t plan to become part of either council faction, but would accept the endorsement of either.

New blood on the council may be able to heal some of the division, Olson said. “We need to be able to speak to each other.”

Olson said she has been watching the General Plan process and working with Students for a Livable Southside, who have pushed for alternatives to the Southside Plan.

“I support more housing built in Berkeley,” Olson said. “But you don’t have to build high-rises.”

Instead, build infill that is “contextually sensitive,” she said, pointing to large homes that have been transformed into comfortable apartments.

There should be incentives for developers to build carfree housing near campus. More affordable housing should be built in order to help maintain the city’s diversity, she said.

Students need affordable housing as well, which does not mean stuffing three to four students into an apartment. “I’m not a fan of the Gaia Building,” Olson said, referring to developer Patrick Kennedy’s building going up on Allston Way. “It will become a rabbit warren for students.”

She said there are Kennedy buildings that are of more appropriate scale, such as the four-story building at University Avenue and Grant Street.

Building apartments over retail is good, to a degree, she said. But the city needs to recognize that as some point, an excess of retail could be developed, she said.

Addressing the traffic problem, Olson said putting in light rail that goes from the MacArthur BART Station to the campus would help a lot. Olson said, however, she recognizes that some people have a need for their cars.

As for the question of building the Beth El Synagogue and school on property near Live Oak Park, Olson said she was among the Landmarks Commissioners who said that the Draft Environmental Impact Report showed an “inadequate analysis of historical resources.”

Moreover, she said, the document does not reveal the size and bulk of the building that is proposed.

At the same time, Olson said she understood Beth El’s need for a new synagogue.

If elected, Olson said she would serve the whole community, not just her district. But at the same time, she said she will be an advocate for the nuts and bolts things the district needs, such as sewers and street repairs.

Olson said, in general, she’s not supportive of increased taxes. With the increasing cost of housing and taxes tied to that, “the city has a windfall it will receive in the next few years,” she said.

Those funds should be used for city needs rather than raising more taxes, she said. At the same time, she said she supports some of the taxes on the November ballot such as the retrofit of the branch libraries and funding for parks.

“I’m not quick to jump up and say we need a lot of money spent on schools,” she said, questioning where past school facilities’ money has gone. “I’d rather see teachers paid more,” she said.

While Olson said she is supportive of the idea of protecting disabled and older renters, she questions Measure Y, the restrictions for owner move-in on the ballot, which goes beyond the protection of those two classes of people.

Olson said she will be spending “as little as possible,” on her campaign. She’s working with a “core-group” of supporters, including two women volunteers, whom she declined to name, who are “experts” in the field.

Her website is at www.carrieolson.com.

Carrie Olson has lived in Berkeley all her 47 years. She’s an active member of the Landmarks Commission, appointed by City Councilmember Linda Maio, volunteered in the schools for ten years before that and has been a member of the AC Transit Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

Olson, a business woman who works for moveon.org, decries the division she sees on the council, which, she said, continues to the commission level. Commissions are made up of council appointees. Olson said she doesn’t plan to become part of either council faction, but would accept the endorsement of either.

New blood on the council may be able to heal some of the division, Olson said. “We need to be able to speak to each other.”

Olson said she has been watching the General Plan process and working with Students for a Livable Southside, who have pushed for alternatives to the Southside Plan.

“I support more housing built in Berkeley,” Olson said. “But you don’t have to build high-rises.”

Instead, build infill that is “contextually sensitive,” she said, pointing to large homes that have been transformed into comfortable apartments.

There should be incentives for developers to build carfree housing near campus. More affordable housing should be built in order to help maintain the city’s diversity, she said.

Students need affordable housing as well, which does not mean stuffing three to four students into an apartment. “I’m not a fan of the Gaia Building,” Olson said, referring to developer Patrick Kennedy’s building going up on Allston Way. “It will become a rabbit warren for students.”

She said there are Kennedy buildings that are of more appropriate scale, such as the four-story building at University Avenue and Grant Street.

Building apartments over retail is good, to a degree, she said. But the city needs to recognize that as some point, an excess of retail could be developed, she said.

Addressing the traffic problem, Olson said putting in light rail that goes from the MacArthur BART Station to the campus would help a lot. Olson said, however, she recognizes that some people have a need for their cars.

As for the question of building the Beth El Synagogue and school on property near Live Oak Park, Olson said she was among the Landmarks Commissioners who said that the Draft Environmental Impact Report showed an “inadequate analysis of historical resources.”

Moreover, she said, the document does not reveal the size and bulk of the building that is proposed.

At the same time, Olson said she understood Beth El’s need for a new synagogue.

If elected, Olson said she would serve the whole community, not just her district. But at the same time, she said she will be an advocate for the nuts and bolts things the district needs, such as sewers and street repairs.

Olson said, in general, she’s not supportive of increased taxes. With the increasing cost of housing and taxes tied to that, “the city has a windfall it will receive in the next few years,” she said.

Those funds should be used for city needs rather than raising more taxes, she said. At the same time, she said she supports some of the taxes on the November ballot such as the retrofit of the branch libraries and funding for parks.

“I’m not quick to jump up and say we need a lot of money spent on schools,” she said, questioning where past school facilities’ money has gone. “I’d rather see teachers paid more,” she said.

While Olson said she is supportive of the idea of protecting disabled and older renters, she questions Measure Y, the restrictions for owner move-in on the ballot, which goes beyond the protection of those two classes of people.

Olson said she will be spending “as little as possible,” on her campaign. She’s working with a “core-group” of supporters, including two women volunteers, whom she declined to name, who are “experts” in the field.

Her website is at www.carrieolson.com.

Benjamin Rodefer

Benjamin Rodefer hasn’t much experience in city government, but the 37-year old candidate for District 5 has spent a number of years working in politics.

He interned for former Rep. Ron Dellums when he was in high school and participated in student government when he was at Cornell University, working briefly for a U.S. Senator after his graduation.

An art dealer – and a jazz musician, once part of the celebrated Berkeley High Jazz Band – Rodefer has worked with different committees planning public art at Aquatic Park and along the BART tracks.

The father of a 17-month old baby knows Berkeley well, having gone through public school here. The values present in the city when he was younger, however “are in danger of being co-opted,” he said, underscoring the need for affordable housing to maintain the city’s diversity.

Another issue that is high on Rodefer’s list of priorities is the environment. People should own green and hybrid vehicles, he said.

“I love Berkeley. I want to still love it 10 years from now.”

Rodefer is not aligned with either of the two council factions. “They’re all Democrats,” he said, “not ‘moderates’ or ‘progressives.’”

On the other hand, Rodefer does take issue with the mayor. “I am concerned with Shirley Dean’s support for developers,” he said, pointing to Eddie Bauer’s as the kind of chain-store that the city does not need.

“It’s not in the interest or character of Berkeley,” he said.

Chain stores “take the money out of the city. That doesn’t benefit us.”

There are better ways to revitalize the city, Rodefer said, through the creation of city loan pools.

Someone needs to liaison between small businesses and the city,” he said. Sometimes the city makes plans for shopping areas and does not consult with the merchants. “There’s not enough communication.”

As for the issue of Beth El, Rodefer said he has a concern with preserving the creek that runs through the property and the limited parking. “There are 600 families (who are members of Beth El) and only 35 parking places.” They will need 50 to 100 spaces at any one time, he said.

Ideally, the city would purchase the property to expand Live Oak Park and Beth El would find a more suitable place to build. Though he hopes they would not leave the city. “They offer a lot of positive benefits,” he said.

Housing is a concern and development needs to conform to “long-tem” community standards, he said. The council’s job would be to “make sure the concerns of the whole community are addressed.”

One of the particular needs for District 5 is traffic control. Decisions about where barriers are placed were made long ago, Rodefer said. Existing conditions need to be examined, such as the amount of traffic that uses The Arlington.

Overruns on capital projects is an issue that Rodefer would address if he gets on the council. “There has to be a way to cap (costs) in contracts,” he said.

Health disparities between Caucasians lining in the hills and African Americans in the flatlands needs to be addressed, Rodefer said. One way would be to create a city health plan, whereby everybody would be covered by insurance. The Berkeley Free Clinic and outreach programs should be fully funded, he said.

As for Measure Y, Rodefer said he is “100 percent” for protection of affordable housing for the elderly and handicapped. However, he said he was concerned about the amount of money the measure mandated for a landlord to pay a low-income person who has to leave in a low-income eviction.

“I don’t support it although I support all the values it espouses,” he said. “It needs to be tightened” then go before the voters at a later date.

Rodefer said he will seek the support of both the Berkeley Democratic Club and Berkeley Citizen’s Action. He said he’s probably more fically conservative than BCA. “I want to see the money spent, effectively,” he said.

Rodefer, who will be running his own campaign, can be reached at 525-9263.

Tony Kushner's epic Pulitzer and Tony Award winner “Angels in America” is the most important American stage work of the past 25 years.

The Los Angeles world premiere of that play was co-directed in 1992 by Tony Taccone, now artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theater.

Since then, the theater has hosted premieres of two other Kushner works – “Slavs!,” a wonderful piece about the collapse of Eastern European communist bureaucracy constructed out of outtakes from “Angels in America,” and “Hydriotaphia,” an odd bedroom meditation about dying 17th century English physician Sir Thomas Browne.

For those who might be interested in catching up with yet more of Kushner's less well-known work, foolsFURY theater company opened a physical, dance-influenced production this past weekend of Kushner's 1990 play “The Illusion,” a very loose adaptation of Pierre Corneille's 17th century French tragic-comedy “L'Illusion Comique.”

foolsFURY is staging “The Illusion” in San Francisco at the Gurdjieff Hall, a small converted movie theater a few doors off Potrero Hill's charming 18th Street neighborhood commercial strip.

“The Illusion” is an odd and rambling story about an elderly father (Keith Davis) who has been estranged from his son (Alexander Lewis) for years.

To address the needs of his heart, the father seeks out a magician (Neil Flint Worden) in a cave who is able to invoke visions that reveal the son’s life story. In foolsFURY's bare stage and dance-based production, the father eagerly and painfully sits and watches these stories, like a play within a play.

Told in three chapters, with the characters oddly renamed in each chapter, the son’s life is revealed. For much of the play, he pursues a love triangle with two women, one rich (Heather Mathieson) and one poor (Kaliopi Eleni), and fends off male rivals (James Cutts and Stephen Jacob).

Betrayal ensues, and a murder. After marriage, there is infidelity, and another murder.

But director Ben Yalom's production of “The Illusion” is a tough staging to appreciate.

In many ways, it feels like a mythical story about generic types, rather than a story about flesh and blood individuals. It is harder to care about generic types, than it is to care about distinct individuals.

In the foolsFURY production, the airy spirits skittering here and there in the dark magician’s cave reiterate what is already one of the most accessible parts of the script. This production might have been made more interesting by challenging the text in some way to reveal its less obvious underlying meanings.

Kushner’s script itself is a declamatory one that does its share of preaching.

As the estranged father watches conjured images of his long-lost son pass through complex romantic struggles with women, “The Illusion” seems at times to be a theatrical deconstruction of the Oedipal conflict. At other times, the play seems to be about the fragility and arbitrariness of human karma.

Then, unexpectedly, at the play’s end there is a twist that shifts the meaning of everything that has come before.

But is it enough, and after waiting two hours, is it worth the wait? On reflection, it seems like a lot of work for what proves to be kind of a small story.

The acting in foolsFURY’s production is generally good. Passing along an interesting arc, Keith Davis’ angry, but ultimately vulnerable father, is one of the evening's best performances.

Alexander Lewis is a multi-faceted prodigal son. Steven Jacob has graceful, hypnotic movements as a military conqueror and rival to Lewis in romance.

Heather Mathieson is a coy, then committed love interest. Kaliopi Eleni sews seeds of romantic dissent as Mathieson's handmaiden. James Cutts is stoic and tough as a determined rival for Mathieson's love.

Neil Flint Worden’s severe, demanding and judgmental magician proves surprisingly ironical at the play’s end, but is an unsatisfying monotone for much of the evening’s performance.

In Michael Burg’s set design, the audience enters the theater through the back of the set and across the stage to take seats at the far end of the small, high-ceilinged space. It is like sitting at the back of a cave and looking out its opening.

At his best, such as with “Angels in America” or “Slavs!,” Kushner is one of the world's best playwrights.

But he has a pedantic and lecturing side in which he likes his characters to explain to the audience how things are. “The Illusion” ends up being a self-conscious and rather sententious parable about theater.

Your Reptile Appeal article in the 9-11 issue misses the point, that wild animal belong in the wild, in their own natural habitat, not in pet stores nor people’s apartments.

Animal dealers who take animals from the wild are not regulated, they destroy habitat and a variety of animals to get to their target animal. Many animals die in transport.

The hard to find, high-priced animal, points out the need to leave them alone, their numbers are dwindling.

In countries where too many snakes are taken, rodent populations can increase out of control.

We need to be more mindful in this country about the impacts of our consumerism.

Sue Cipolla

Berkeley

Try alternatives to cars, ease the parking problem

Editor

Parking in Berkeley is often a gnash-your-teeth affair. These days, parking downtown is in even shorter supply. Berkeley High School’s parking lot now holds temporary portable classrooms rather than cars.

Due to a fire set by an arsonist earlier this year, one school building is out of commission and needs to be repaired. Hence the portable classrooms.

The temporary loss of the large parking lot can’t be helped.

However, this loss may result in endless searching and circling for parking.

For some there is an added complication: A parking space, when found, needs to be a very short walk to the desired destination.

The seniors and people with disabilities who use the warm water pool on the Berkeley High School campus for healing and exercise after school hours and on weekends have been particularly hard hit by the lack of parking for several weeks.

To compensate, the school district is carving 19 parking spaces out of the girl’s softball field for parking and all 19 will be earmarked for disabled drivers during community swim hours.

The city, for its part, has a number of alternative transportation solutions to offer to help limit the number of cars seeking parking.

By the way, these solutions will work for all Berkeley seniors and citizens with disabilities, whatever the destination.

There are several city subsidized transportation programs. First of all, qualified Berkeley residents can purchase East Bay Paratransit tickets for less than the usual price directly from the city. The limit is ten for calendar quarter and the cost is $1 instead of $2.25.

Then there is a separate city paratransit program with its own vans that people can use in addition to East Bay Paratransit.

Both services are door-to-door. This program offers 20 vouchers a quarter at $2.25 each for trips up to ten miles.

Finally there is a city taxi scrip program for anyone with a mobility problem and seniors over 70.

Scrip costs $1 - $2 (depending on income level) for a booklet with $10 worth of coupons that can be used with designated cab companies. Currently Berkeley residents may purchase 15 booklets each calendar quarter and an additional five booklets for $4-$5 each.

Any income level can participate. To get more information about these three programs, please call 664-6607 Monday through Thursday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

The city has also contacted RIDES for Bay Area Commuters, the agency that links up commuters throughout the region. Warm pool users, and anyone with a commute, can sign up quickly and easily to access 12,000 other people interested in sharing rides.

In the case of people using the warm water pool, RIDES has offered to set up a separate database for them as well.

RIDES can be reached at: 800-755-POOL.

Since parking in Berkeley is the issue, I can’t help but mention another alternative to cars, a bicyle.

The city’s consultant on the warm pool project, for example, just bought a bike to overcome many of her work-related parking needs as well as running errands around town.

This may not be an option for warm pool users, but it is an alternative others might consider that will alleviate some of the parking stress and dental bills resulting from gnash-your-teeth parking woes.

The commission will discuss Project Impact disaster funding, I-80 overpass amenities, removal of obstacles from the sidewalk and more.

Second Annual Bertram Gross Award

7 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

The campaign to abolish poverty/full employment Coalition presents the second Annual Bertram Gross Award. Gross, 1912-1998, was the chief author of the Roosevelt Full Employment Act, the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act and the current full employment legislation HR1050.

Award recipients are Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Amaha Kassa, East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economy and Pat Ford, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union.

Music by Barbara Dane. $10-$15; nobody turned away for lack of funds.

Thursday, Sept. 14

Eugene O’Neil House,

Mt. Diablo State Park Trip

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way

$21 per person

644-6107

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force

6:30 p.m.

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way

Agenda items include public comment time and sampling reviews

486-4387

Pre-business workshop

Small-business Development Center

519 17th St. Suite 200, Oakland

8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

$35

273-6611, www.eastbayscore.org, eastbayscore@yahoo.com

Yoga class

2 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

What next for Haiti?

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Avenue,

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Friday, Sept. 15

“The Barber of Seville”

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

“Lift the Sanctions from Iraq”

Interfaith Brunch & Community Gathering

Talk by Denis Halliday, Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General

10:30 a.m. -noon

Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento

(510) 527-8370

Saturday, Sept. 16

Shoreline clean-up walk

10 a.m.

Seabreeze Market, on Frontage Road just west of University Avenue

Friends of Five Creeks leads a walk, talking about

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

Call: 848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

Sunday, Sept. 24

Using both story-telling and generational techniques, Dr. Lois Silverstein will offer beginning steps to rediscovering family heritage and traditions.

$4 for BRJCC members and $5 for all others 848-0237

5th anniversary party and film festival

Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Fifth Birthday

6-8 p.m. party

film: 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Pyramid Alehouse Outdoor Movie Theater

1901 Gilman St.

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Monday, October 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

If all goes as planned, the Berkeley Marina restaurants and hotel will be paying higher wages to their employees by Oct. 20. The Berkeley City Council is poised to expand its Living Wage Ordinance at tonight’s meeting, requiring established Marina businesses to pay their employees a minimum of $9.75

per hour.

A Living Wage Ordinance was adopted in June, and applies to workers employed by persons leasing land from the city.

But Marina workers, whose employers lease city land, were not covered, because the hotels’ and restaurants’ contracts with the city would not be renewed for a number of years.

However City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque reviewed the question and determined that including Marina employees in the ordinance under a Marina Zone was legal, said Lindsey Urbina, deputy city attorney.

“It was added later, and had to be addressed by the City Attorney after the fact,” Urbina said.

The Living Wage ordinance mandates higher wages for workers in Berkeley whose employers contract with the city or whose employers lease property from the city.

Current living wage standards are set for $11.38 per hour without health insurance, or $9.75 per hour with employers setting aside the difference for health care coverage.

The levels are set this way because legally, employers cannot be forced to purchase health insurance, said Amaha Kassa, an organizer at the East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economic Development. “This way, workers are guaranteed that they can pay rent and have health care,” he said.

Such living wage in the Marina is overdue, Kassa said. “Marina businesses have been taking advantage of a unique, city-owned location while cutting out service-sector employees from the windfall,” he added.

“The Radisson is a worst case scenario, where many employees make only $7 an hour, and get no health benefits,” Kassa said. “They benefit from a location that the city funds to keep up. It’s the location that brings tourists and weddings to the Marina on a permanent basis.”

Cliff Marchetti, Waterfront manager, said that the city has budgeted $3.3 million for operations in the year 2001. “I don’t know the exact number of people who come in a year.” Marchetti said. “But it’s a lot. Several thousand a day.”

In 1962, the city was granted the Marina Zone via the state’s Public Trust Tidelands grant. This includes Aquatic Park and all lands west of Marina Boulevard. The lands were designated for “the public’s use and enjoyment of the bay and the waterfront,” according to a memo written by Weldon Rucker, acting city manager.

Rucker argued that such wage increases will “improve the service given to the public by employees there.”

“The public interest is best served by ensuring that the public is not deterred from visiting the Marina because they do not wish to patronize businesses who do not pay their employees a living wage or provide them with health care benefits,” Rucker wrote in a report to the council.

Roxanna Gipson has been working for 10 years at the Radisson as a housekeeper.

“They’ve been working us like slaves,” she said. “We clean between 15 and 16 rooms everyday.”

Up until two years ago, she was working for $6.25 an hour, without health care benefits. When Radisson employees presented management with a petition to unionize, in September of 1999, that wage shot up to $9.25, but she was still paying over $112 a month for health coverage. Now, living in Oakland, the skyrocketing price of gas has set her back even more, just getting to and from work, and even if she wanted to move to Berkeley to be closer to work, she couldn’t.

“There’s no way I could live in Berkeley. The rent is too high,” Gipson said. “Basically, they can afford to hire me in Berkeley, but I can’t afford to live in Berkeley.”

It’s such conditions, Kassa said, that make living wage ordinances necessary now.

“Berkeley is extremely expensive. Many people want to live here, to be close to work, but they can’t, because of low wages and high rent. This results in low wage service providers, many of whom are people of color and immigrants,” he said.

Polly Armstrong, councilmember from District 8, said: “If we want Berkeley to remain a diverse city, we need to increase housing opportunities and raise wages. By demanding that these long term Marina workers make more than just a minimum wage, we are using our power to improve the quality of their lives.”

Brij Misra, general manager of the Marina Radisson, said he hadn’t had time to study the impact of the pending ordinance. “I’m sure that there would be some kind of impact on the Radisson,” he said.

Kassa and Gipson, on the other hand, are sure about the impact the higher wages will have.

“Obtaining living wages will ensure that more people benefit from the advantages of a location that almost guarantees economic success,” Kassa said.

Gipson agreed. “I’ve been living pay check to pay check, and now I’ll be able to save a little for a rainy day.”

A quick read-through of tonight’s City Council agenda is akin to looking at a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s as if the city’s issues were poured through a fan and splattered across 2,000 pages of paper – well, 631 to be exact. Undergrounding utilities contrasts sharply with the obligatory monthly renewal of needle exchange programs. Expanding the Living Wage Ordinance compliments a “buy Berkeley” campaign, billboard removal within the city limits, meets Berkeley police undergoing American Disabilities Act trainings. As with a Pollock painting, the underlying balance comes from the contrast, the incongruity, the arbitrary limit of the canvas itself, or in this case, the limited time constraints of the council meeting and the finite patience of the council members.

Despite a smaller-than-normal number of items on the consent calendar, (“only 58,” says Kriss Worthington, the District 7 councilmember), the meeting is expected to last 4 to 5 hours, and still, not every item on the agenda will be discussed.

Perhaps because of this, one proposal that should receive air time is Councilmember Linda Maio’s (District 1) plan to “improve working relations with staff and council.”

“It has to do with the burgeoning number of items on the calendar, and things getting carried (forward) from meeting to meeting,” says Jennifer Price, a Maio aide. “She’s hoping to make people more respectful of council time by asking for simple things - like preparation and communication. No more bickering. It’s really gotten preposterous. Meetings generally last until midnight and items constantly get held over.”

Councilmember Polly Armstrong, from District 8, agrees.

“I’ve been very impatient with the lack of productivity,” says Armstrong.

“The problem is that for some political agendas, delay is a good thing, making real progress difficult.”

But Maio’s item won’t even be discussed until 41 other items have been taken up. The mayor has also proposed a “meeting on meetings” to get through the bottleneck.

Often criticized for bickering and oneupsmanship, the council is roughly divided into two groups - one which includes Dean, characterized as the “moderates”, and the other characterized as “liberal/progressive” which includes the dogged Worthington.

Calling it a largely “ceremonial agenda,” Armstrong looks at earthquake preparation and fire safety as important issues.

“Fire safety is similar to earthquakes in that you have to prepare for the aftermath similarly,” she says. “It’s been nine years since the big fire, and we can get complacent.”

Worthington however, is focusing on the expanded Living Wage Ordinance to include a Marina Zone, undergrounding utilities, and freedom to discuss “appealable matters” with constituents as the most significant issues.

“Right now, it is illegal to talk to constituency about appeals. You can’t have a public meeting with those who are in contention, which obviously, raises people’s ire.”

The rules, he claims are hindering Margaret Breland, now embroiled in just such a case, from satisfying her constituency just before the Nov. 7 elections.

Other issues include Golden Oldies of Berkeley politics: Save the Whales, Save the Old Growth Forest, and Free Political Prisoners - in this case Sarah Jane Olson, accused of planting bombs for the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Traffic, ever increasing in Berkeley, also comes up in many forms, whether from residents who want to reduce traffic in their neighborhoods, or bikers who want safer streets and a “bike highway” along Ninth Street.

After the “summer vacation”, from July 26 to today, Armstrong characterizes the re-opening of the council meetings, “like coming back to school.”

“While I’m excited about getting back to work, summer went too fast.” she says, laughing.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Old City Hall Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It is televised on B-TV 25 and broadcast on KPFB 89.3.

SACRAMENTO — Prescription drug use is up, prices are higher and those who need the medications most are least likely to have insurance coverage for them, health care experts said Monday.

The Center for Health and Public Policy Studies at University of California, Berkeley, held a roundtable event at the Capitol to address growing concerns about prescription drug coverage.

It included discussion of coverage by HMOs; Medicare, the federal government’s health coverage for the elderly and disabled; and Medi-Cal, a state-federal plan for low-income Californians.

“A significant portion of the population doesn’t have coverage for prescription drugs,” said Janet Lundy, an author of a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study. “A lack of coverage can mean that prescriptions doctors prescribe don’t get filled.”

Though coverage of prescription drugs has increased, 23 percent of the non-elderly and 31 percent of Medicare beneficiaries still have no coverage, according to the national study by Kaiser, a nonprofit health care foundation unrelated to the health insurer Kaiser Permanente.

Finding a way to help people get coverage for prescription drugs is imperative as drug costs and use rise dramatically, Lundy said.

Prescription drug use rose 37 percent between 1992 and 1998, while the population grew 6 percent, according to the foundation’s study.

Retail prices for drugs have increased 6.7 percent per year since 1991 – a rate higher than both general inflation and medical care inflation, the study found.

As a result, out-of-pocket expenses for medication, both for the insured and uninsured, are projected to rise, Lundy said.

All of that adds up to a system that “hurts people’s ability to stay alive,” said David Gross of the AARP Public Policy Institute in Washington D.C.

The topic is one of the hottest in this year’s presidential race, with both major-party candidates touting plans to expand coverage.

Democratic nominee Al Gore would incorporate prescriptions into Medicare. Republican George W. Bush has suggested four years of grants to states to provide coverage for low-income seniors while a national program was established.

Two panelists at Monday’s roundtable, Dr. Sharon Dean, a pediatrician from Kaiser Permanente, and Robert Seidman, of Blue Cross of California, said they were troubled by the increase in pharmaceutical marketing directly to consumers.

The pharmaceutical industry spends about $8 billion per year to promote its products, with more than $1 billion of that spent on advertising to the general public, the study found.

A Blue Cross study found a 600 percent increase in advertising of antihistamines on television and in magazines, Seidman said.

“If they’re marketed like candy, they should be sold like candy and you shouldn’t need a prescription,” Seidman said.

The drug industry opposes attempts at price controls or HMOs using restrictive plans that allow doctors to prescribe only the lowest cost drugs, said Chris Ward, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The University and State Employees Credit Union at 1995 University Avenue was robbed at around 4:40 p.m. Sept. 6. An unarmed man wearing yellow dishwashing gloves vaulted over the bank counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of money from an open cash drawer.

Lopes said the man walked in and shoved his way through a line before jumping over the counter and grabbing the money from a teller’s drawer that was open as she made a transaction

“It probably scared her because the guy was pretty big,” he said.

The suspect is described as a black male, 45-50-years old, 5 feet 11 inches, 210-220 pounds with a muscular build. Lopes said the man was clean shaven wearing plastic wrap-around glasses and a black T-shirt, black pants and the yellow rubber gloves.

* * *

Detectives are investigating an armed robbery on the 2400 block of Dwight Way where two masked men barged into an apartment and held the female inhabitant face down with a sawed-off shotgun to her head while they ransacked the house.

Lopes said two late teen-to early 20’s-aged men knocked on the woman’s door around 1:30 a.m. Sept. 6. Lopes said the woman opened it, thinking it was her male roommates, and when she did the men forced their way in and held her at gunpoint.

Lopes said one of the men, described as a young white or Hispanic male, 5 feet 8 inches, heavy set with black, closely shaven hair, wearing a black ski mask, held the woman down with the double-barreled sawed-off shotgun to her neck while the other rummaged through the apartment yelling “where’s the money?”

The second suspect is described as a white male, 5 feet 11 inches with dirty blond hair cut in a fade, wearing a handkerchief over his mouth and brandishing a handgun.

Lopes said the two didn’t take anything and he thought the robbers had the wrong place.

Lopes said that detectives are investigating several robberies in that area.

SAN FRANCISCO — After nearly four weeks of effort by two fire departments, an underground hazardous waste landfill fire still smolders at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

But what has the Environmental Protection Agency up in arms is that the Navy took three of those weeks to tell anyone about it.

In a letter sent Monday to naval officials and local politicians, the EPA admonished the Navy for failing to alert the agency, local officials and neighbors of the Superfund site about the fire and the possible hazardous situations it may have created.

“Only after the EPA’s request did the Navy release a fact sheet to the public and install air monitoring stations to determine the impact of the fire on nearby residents,” wrote Daniel Meer, chief of the Superfund Division of the EPA’s Federal Facilities Cleanup Branch.

The letter went on to criticize the Navy’s decision to stop stationing federal fire fighters at the site while the fire continues to burn. The EPA says the Navy has since reversed its plan.

Results from soil, water and air samples submitted by the Navy to a laboratory are expected back this week to determine whether neighbors could have been harmed by smoke which took on yellow and green hues over the weeks.

The fire smolders on though it no longer produces much visible smoke, says Jeannie Light, a Navy spokeswoman based in San Diego.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The EPA doubts Hunters Point neighbors are in any danger, but isn’t taking any chances.

“We don’t believe there’s any risk to people out there, but it’s nice to have the monitoring up just to make sure there aren’t any emissions coming from the landfill,” said Sheryl Lauth, Hunters Point project manager for the EPA.

The fire has burned since Aug. 16 at the shipyard, near a section where the city hopes to build new homes and businesses after the site is cleansed of toxic wastes.

Heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and other industrial wastes are imbedded over the 46-acre landfill.

Lauth says it’s hard to tell how long the fire could burn until a landfill expert the Navy plans to send to the site later this week can figure out what’s actually burning.

The Navy issued a news release Friday which detailed the efforts of both the Federal and San Francisco fire departments to put out the fire.

But the methods used – including flooding the area with water and bulldozing and shoveling out hotspots – have thus far left the fire unbeaten.

Alex Lantsberg, program coordinator of environmental group Arc Ecology, which was a party in a lawsuit against the Navy earlier this year, says the EPA needs to beef up its oversight of the Navy’s cleanup efforts.

EPA is a partner in the cleanup effort, though it lacks legal power to discipline the Navy.

“I think a lot of people are wondering whether the EPA is a watchdog or a lapdog,” said Lantsberg who is also a member of the Community First Coalition, a coalition of Bay View and Hunters Point residents and environmental groups who demand the immediate cleanup of the Superfund site.

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was closed in 1974 and comprises 500 dry acres and 440 submerged acres within San Francisco’s Bay View and Hunters Point neighborhoods.

SAN FRANCISCO — A plan to transform the Transbay Terminal into a hub for public transportation is expected to be approved this week despite difficulty funding the $904 million project.

The Bay Area Toll Authority, which will consider the plan, has proposed paying for the new terminal with money from the sale of land in the South of Market area of the city.

But that, according to Metropolitan Transportation Commission Project Manager Rod McMillan, will raise only about $345 million. Bridge tolls and federal money may provide another $95 million, leaving more than $400 million, plus an estimated $13 million a year to run the terminal. Plans include tearing down the three-level building at First and Mission streets and replacing it with a five-level, glass-walled terminal for buses and trains.

If the plan is approved Wednesday, it is still uncertain when it would be started and finished. It is expected to snarl traffic and eliminate parking during the two or three years it would take to build.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court Monday reversed a precedent in how drug convicts are sentenced, potentially ushering in a wave of new appeals.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a common practice where judges, not juries, decide the quantity of drugs involved in a crime for sentencing purposes.

The three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based circuit based its decision on a little-noticed June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said juries, not judges, must decide if a hate crime was motivated by racial bias and therefore subject to a steeper sentence.

“This is big. This is a major change in law,” said Linda M. Leavitt, a San Francisco defense lawyer whose client’s sentence was at issue Monday. “There’s probably thousands of cases like this across the country.”

Leavitt represented a Humboldt County man convicted of cultivating marijuana.

At sentencing, the government accused Kayle Nordby of growing 2,300 plants. The judge found he had grown more than 1,000 plants, requiring that he serve a 10-year sentence. If the judge found he grew less than 1,000 plants, he would have received a mandatory five-year term.

In overturning the precedent, the panel reduced Nordby’s sentence to five years.

The circuit panel acknowledged in its opinion that it was dramatically changing trial policy.

“Our existing precedent to the contrary is overruled,” Judge William C. Canby wrote for the court that covers California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.

Thousands of drug convicts who have exhausted their appeals could seek a new trial or request their prison terms be reduced, said Steve Kalar, a federal public defender in San Francisco.

In new cases, federal prosecutors must prove to a jury the amount of narcotics at issue.

“I think this is going to have a dramatic impact on drug cases,” Kalar said. “It’s really the jury that should be making these decisions, which is a fundamental American concept.”

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 12-year prison termed imposed on a white New Jersey man accused of firing shots into a black family’s home. The court found the defendant was entitled to a jury decision, not a judge’s, on whether he acted out of racial bias.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority that the case was “an unacceptable departure from the jury tradition that is an indispensable part of our criminal justice system.”

Three-judge panels of the 8th and 6th appellate circuits have ruled similarly to Monday’s decision.

But experts said the 9th Circuit is the nation’s most influential and largest appellate panel and other circuits are likely to follow suit.

The Supreme Court ruled on the hate crime case the same day it issued a landmark ruling saying police still must warn suspects of their right to remain silent when questioned.

The case of so-called Miranda warnings received the bulk of media attention, and the hate crime case received little notice.

“A lot of people thought the hate crime case was a revolutionary case,” said Yale Kamisar, a University of Michigan Law School professor. “It dwarfed (Miranda), which got more publicity.”

Bay area Asian Americans today reacted with a mixture of anger and relief to news that jailed Chinese-American scientist Wen Ho Lee might be freed, despite late word that a plea agreement had been postponed.

Lee, 60, a Taiwan-born nuclear physicist who worked at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, had been accused by the U.S. government of stealing sensitive nuclear weapons secrets – allegedly for sale to the Chinese government.

After months of legal proceedings and closeted plea negotiations, Lee was expected to enter a plea agreement on a 59-count federal indictment this afternoon in a New Mexico federal court.

Late this afternoon, however, U.S. District Judge James Parker reportedly announced a delay until Wednesday in the agreement between federal prosecutors and defense lawyers.

According to the reported terms of the deal, Lee will plead guilty to just one felony count of the indictment – all other charges will be dropped. He will be sentenced to nine months in prison and released for time already served behind bars.

In exchange, Lee has apparently agreed to cooperate with federal authorities to disclose all he knows about several pieces of sensitive information he allegedly downloaded onto a personal computer.

He will also reportedly drop his own charges that authorities prosecuted him solely because of his ethnicity, although he will retain the right to file suit against the government in civil court.

This afternoon, a coalition of civil rights activists and Asian

American community rights organizations said that while the fight for Lee's freedom is over, the battle to end racial profiling and the selective prosecution of minorities has only begun.

“This is something we cannot now simply let go by the wayside just because Dr. Lee has rejoined his family.”

Victor Hwang, managing attorney of the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based legal rights group, said federal prosecutors were hypocrites for simultaneously refusing to allow Lee to leave jail on bail while negotiating a plea bargain.

“This is a virtual acknowledgement that they have no case,” he declared.

The controversial case of the scientist and the disappearing data has aroused the suspicions of many Asian Americans that the federal government had focused on Lee solely because of his ethnic background.

Lee was fired from his post at Los Alamos in March 1999, shortly after the missing data had been discovered. He was subsequently arrested in December and held in solitary confinement to loud protests from Asian American groups over the seemingly heavy-handed treatment of the scientist.

“I guess from an idealistic perspective it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Dr. Lee had to plea to anything,” he said, citing statements by several high-level investigators on the case who admitted to practicing racial profiling.

“Regardless of what China may or may not do, they can't target Chinese-Americans because of what some foreign country is doing.”

Dorothy Ehrlich of the American Civil Liberties Union said Lee's case was only the most recent instance of “a long and dishonorable history in this country.”

“We are deeply disturbed by the happenings of the last nine months,” she said.

In San Francisco this morning, Supervisor Michael Yaki issued a statement expressing both anger and acceptance at Lee's ordeal.

“I have a sense of both relief and anger upon receiving the news that the U.S. government has reached a plea bargain deal with Dr. Wen Ho Lee, resulting in his possible release,'' Yaki said. “Relief, in that Dr. Lee's nine month ordeal in jail is finally over and that the Department of Justice appears to understand that any mistakes he made were not detrimental to national security.

“Anger, in that nine months in jail is hardly proportional given the offense.”

Yaki hinted that federal prosecution of Lee had critically ruptured the trust of varied Asian American communities in the government, a broken faith reflected in the declining participation of Asian American scientists at the national labs.

“I still believe that the U.S. government shamelessly engaged in scapegoating Dr. Lee because he was Chinese-American,” Yaki added.

“It will take more than this plea bargain deal to regain the trust of Asian Americans who used to, would want to, or currently work for the Department of Energy.”Hwang concurred with Yaki's assessment.

“I think the Department of Energy is going to have to work very hard to repair the damage done by this case,” he said, adding that “there has been no meaningful attempt to correct the hostile atmosphere at the labs.”

The case has also drawn attention from the international media due to the nature of the mishandled data, which experts at one time called the “crown jewels” of the U.S. nuclear weapons program, as well as prosecutors’ speculation that it might be sold to a foreign power.

In a statement this morning, the Coalition Against Racial and Ethnic Scapegoating said the case revealed the hypocrisy of the investigation.

“What began as the greatest espionage case since the Rosenbergs is now revealed as nothing more than a case of mishandling classified information. ... (a) common practice at the national laboratories,” the group said in a release.

“The case remains as a symbol and a caution of the dangerous power of the government when individuals choose to abuse the system to persecute an individual based on his race and identity.”

Hwang said today’s sudden retreat by federal prosecutors will also have repercussions beyond U.S. borders.

“This is an embarrassment to the United States of international proportions. The U.S. is going to have to do a little bit more to clean up its reputation on the international level.”

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department needs more aggressive independent review and a permanent special prosecutor to investigate misconduct, according to a police union-commissioned report Monday.

The 150-page report by University of Southern California law professor Erwin Chemerinsky found the department fosters a culture of hostility among its officers. An environment in which excessive force and a code of silence is tolerated has allowed corruption to fester, he said.

“When innocent people are convicted, all of the institutions have failed us and all must be reformed so this doesn’t happen again,” he said during a news conference at City Hall.

Chemerinsky, who was not paid for his work, is a constitutional expert who served as chairman of the elected commission that helped draft the revised City Charter that voters approved last year.

More than 100 convictions have been overturned as a result of allegations that anti-gang officers at the Rampart station lied under oath, planted evidence, wrote false reports and in some cases shot unarmed suspects.

The Board of Inquiry report, released in March, recommended several changes, including expanding the LAPD’s internal affairs division. Ultimately, however, it blamed the scandal on the failure of officers and supervisors to carry out existing department policies.

Chemerinsky said it downplayed the scandal and failed to acknowledge how the department’s culture allowed the corruption to continue. He also noted that the Los Angeles criminal justice system, including the county district attorney’s office, shares some of the blame by not catching irregularities in officers’ cases.

He called for strengthening the civilian Police Commission and a system in which people can more easily complain about alleged police misconduct.

The Board of Police Commissioners, which has existed since the 1920s, sets department policies while the chief manages day-to-day operations. The five members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Chemerinsky recommended giving the mayor two appointments and one each to the City Council president, the city attorney and the city controller. A majority council vote should be required to remove a commissioner, he added.

Mayor Richard Riordan had not read the report and had no specific response to the suggestion of a more aggressive civilian review process, a spokesman said.

“The mayor insists on reform, so that anything that is reasonable that relates to reform the mayor wants to seriously take a look at,” said Peter Hidalgo, Riordan’s press secretary.

The LAPD and the Police Commission did not immediately return calls seeking comment. But Police Chief Bernard Parks has defended the department’s handling of the scandal, saying its own officers brought it to light and have aggressively investigated the allegations.

Parks has responded to Chemerinsky’s past criticism of the Board of Inquiry report in letters to newspapers, saying it is far from the department’s final word on the Rampart scandal and that the professor has complained about a lack of civilian oversight on the report before the Police Commission has had a change to review it.

The report’s finding of widespread corruption is “very, very painful, and completely opposite to my entire life as a police officer,” said Police Protective League President Ted Hunt. “But if someone like that says it, we have to examine it.”

Union officials said they don’t agree with some of Chemerinsky’s 80-plus recommendations, including his call for the city to enter a federal consent decree that would give a judge power to force reforms.

Several recommendations are similar to those found in the Christopher Commission report, which was written in response to the 1991 Rodney King beating.

Some of those suggestions are being better received this time by officers, said Don Lint, a union director who represents patrol officers. They opposed citizen review when it was recommended by the Christopher Commission, but welcome it now, Lint said.

SACRAMENTO — California is promising to spend at least $1.2 billion a year to create the nation’s biggest state scholarship program, covering college tuition for all low- and middle-income students with at least a C average.

Under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Gray Davis, all California students whose grades are high enough and incomes are low enough can get a Cal-Grant scholarship, starting with the 2001-02 academic year.

“This is the most ambitious financial aid program in America and we’ll say to all students, we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” Davis said at a bill-signing ceremony in front of the Student Union at California State University, Los Angeles. “You do your job well to get the grades, college will be a reality.”

State Senate Leader John Burton, D-San Francisco, called the bill the greatest expansion of financial aid to California students since the passage of the G.I. Bill after World War II.

The expansion is made possible largely by a boom-time state surplus and a push by lawmakers and Californians to improve public education, particularly for low-income students.

Most other states are increasingly targeting their scholarship programs at students’ grades and not financial need, said Ed Elmendorf of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

“I don’t know of any other state that would guarantee support such as this and at the same time use it to target low-income families,” he said. “I have to give them a lot of credit for having the guts to do that.”

California actually promised college access to all students with good grades four decades ago, in its 1960 Higher Education Master Plan. But the state has never before spent enough to cover everyone eligible for a Cal-Grant, instead ranking applicants according to need and grades.

For example, five years ago only 23 percent of eligible Cal-Grant applicants received awards.

For the 2000-01 academic year, the state gave awards to 57 percent of those eligible and is spending $503 million on 130,000 students.

CSU-Los Angeles student Nani Escudero, 19, has received $1,000 from the Cal-Grant program and said she didn’t think she could go to college without financial aid.

“Right now I’m a part-time worker, full-time student. But if I didn’t get any help financially, like Cal Grant, it would be very hard to focus on school and be a full-time worker,” Escudero said. “It makes it easier to concentrate on school.”

When the Cal-Grant program is fully expanded in 2006, it will cost the state an estimated $1.2 billion a year and provide scholarships for about 250,000 students, according to the state Student Aid Commission, which runs the program.

“It’s a great stride in opening the doors to public education,” said Alex Ding, executive vice president of Associated Students of University of California, Berkeley.

“It’s this type of thing that a lot of the state has been needing to increase diversity” of students.

The expansion affects the two major types of Cal-Grant awards.

Cal Grant A awards, aimed at low- and middle-income students, require at least a 3.0 or B high school average and a maximum income of $64,100 for a family of four. It provides annual tuition of $1,428 for CSU, $3,429 for UC and up to $9,708 for private colleges.

Students who are eligible for a Cal Grant A but who attend community colleges can have their grant placed in reserve until they attend a four-year college.

The Cal Grant B award is for low-income students who have at least a 2.0 or C average and have maximum incomes of about $33,700 for a family of four.

In the first year of a Cal Grant B, the student receives $1,551 for books and living expenses to attend a community college.

In later years when he or she transfers to a four-year college, full tuition plus $1,551 is provided.

The bill also contains 22,500 scholarships for “second-chance” students returning to college as adults.

Davis also signed a bill Monday providing $118 million to provide new merit scholarships of $1,000 and $2,500 to students with high scores on the statewide test and advanced math and science exams, regardless of the income.

It takes a unique kind of passion to surround yourself every work day with serpents, tarantulas, lizards, hissing cockroaches as big as your thumb – and rats. Not to mention breeding some of the critters at your own home.

“It’s been a lifelong passion,” said John Emberton, who with Cliff Moeser, Owen Maercks and a band of fearless employees, runs the East Bay Vivarium at 1827 Fifth St., the country’s oldest and largest reptile retail store.

“Snakes are great pets,” Emberton said.

“They’re quiet, hypoallergenic, they don’t need much space or any emotional support and they only eat once a week. It’s a great animal for the casual apartment dweller.”

Business is booming, Emberton said. The 30-year-old enterprise that began in Oakland has as many as 3,000 animals – not counting the rats, mice, hamsters, rabbits and chickens they breed for the reptiles’ lunch – in the store at any given time.

Emberton also said he and a few others breed several species at their homes because space at the cold-blooded copa cabana is limited.

There are no venomous snakes or crocodiles at the store. It’s “against the law,” he said. “We have animals ranging from three bucks to $10,000,” he said. “It has nothing to do with size or beauty, it’s the difficulty of acquisition.”

The rarest animal at the store is an albino Brazilian rainbow boa. Only four or five people in the world own them, Emberton said. However, in terms of rarity, he said that they have had some snakes, such as the Madagascar tree boa, that is losing its habitat at an exponential rate and could be wiped in a matter of years.

The Vivarium doesn’t participate in a raise-and-release program, he said. For one, because “like the California Condor, they don’t exactly work,” and because many of the animals they get come from distant spots on the globe.

What they do, however, is act as a reptile shelter. They take in wayward reptiles that owners are unable to take care of.

It’s obvious he loves the little monsters and is enthusiastic about caring for them.

Busy packing for a reptile show in San Mateo, Emberton took a few minutes to give the Daily Planet a tour.

He said the Vivarium often takes its show on the road. They travel all over the country and show and sell reptiles.

“This is the busiest time of the year,” said the former plumber, explaining that he turned a hobby into a job. “There are 30 to 70 animals hatching per day.”

When you walk into the Vivarium, you see a quasi-tropical showroom, with wooden reptile terrariums stacked on each other forming makeshift walls. Some of the reptile homes are filled with knotty logs for the creatures to climb on, and tropical plants.

“This is only a small part of what we do,” he said.

The tour began in the “rat room,” where the food for the product is bred.

Hundreds of rats, mice, and hamsters, and a few rabbits and chickens for the big boys, spend a their days in wait for eminent doom.

“We keep a lot of them,” he said as he reached into a 6-inch-deep tub and pulled out a mother rat with several young. “She’ll probably stay with us forever, she’s a breeder.”

Next on the tour was one of the reptile breeding rooms.

“We don’t sell many big snakes, but we sell a lot of babies,” he said.

Many of the snakes, like their warm-blooded prey in the adjacent room, stay around as breeders and never make it to the showroom floor, he said.

Then it’s off to the incubators, where Emberton pulled out a new-born King snake and in the same motion dumped a rat into the cage of a salivating Indigo snake. Business as usual.

“They’re the largest non-venomous snake in North America,” he said as the Indigo snake began exercising its jaw to swallow the rat.

The tour winds up to

the office, where Emberton, Moeser and Maercks do paperwork beside cages of

tarantulas and aforementioned giant cockroaches.

Emberton remembered the time when a King snake escaped and ended up in the third story of a print shop on Fourth Street.

“He’d been gone for about a year,” he chuckled.

Escapes are commonplace.

“When a lizards gets loose, everything shuts down and we start looking for him, but with snakes, it’s different,” he said. He said that snakes are by nature low-metabolism creatures and are fine under a rock or in a hole. “Sometimes they’ll stay hidden for months. But most of the time we find them within days.”

Finally, it’s back to the showroom where Emberton lets loose “Spot,” a Cocker-Spaniel sized Asian water monitor. Emberton said that Spot is “one of the few animals in the store that has a name. And he’s not for sale.”

Maercks, the co-owner, and Spot are a birthday party attraction. Spot also goes along with Maercks to educational lectures for kids at the San Francisco Exploratorium.

“He’s as tame as a puppy,” Emberton said, with a motherly gesture, wiping dust from his star-attraction’s face.

Learn about voting absentee and working a local polling places. North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

Tuesday, Sept. 12

Tai Chi Chuan

11 a.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

Wednesday, Sept. 13

Mid-Autumn Festival

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

Last town hall meeting on the

Berkeley Housing Authority

Plan

6-8 p.m.

West Berkeley Senior Center

1900 Sixth St.

For information on the plan, call Wanda Remmers 548-8776

Commission on Disability

6:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

The commission will discuss Project Impact disaster funding, I-80 overpass amenities, removal of obstacles from the sidewalk and more.

Second annual

Bertram Gross Award

7 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

The campaign to abolish poverty/full employment Coalition presents the second Annual Bertram Gross Award. Gross, 1912-1998, was the chief author of the Roosevelt Full Employment Act, the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act and the current full employment legislation HR1050.

Award recipients are Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Amaha Kassa, East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economy and Pat Ford, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union.

Music by Barbara Dane. $10-$15; nobody turned away for lack of funds.

Thursday, Sept. 14

Eugene O’Neil House,

Mt. Diablo State Park Trip

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way

$21 per person

644-6107

Environmental Sampling Project Task Force

6:30 p.m.

First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way

Agenda items include public comment time and sampling reviews

486-4387

Pre-business workshop

Small-business Development Center

519 17th St. Suite 200, Oakland

8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. $35

273-6611, www.eastbayscore.org, eastbayscore@yahoo.com

Yoga class

2 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

What next for Haiti?

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Avenue,

What is the true story behind the recent elections in Haiti? What’s the real impact of the global economy on Haiti?

483-7481

please call to reserve childcare

$5-10

Friday, Sept. 15

“The Barber of Seville”

1 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

644-6107

“Lift the Sanctions from Iraq”

Interfaith Brunch & Community Gathering

Talk by Denis Halliday, Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General

10:30 a.m. -noon

Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento

527-8370

Saturday, Sept. 16

Shoreline clean-up walk

10 a.m.

Sea Breeze Market, on Frontage Road just west of University Avenue

Friends of Five Creeks leads a walk, talking about

history, wildlife, and restoration possibilities from Strawberry to Codornices Creeks, as part of Coastal Cleanup 2000.

848-9358

Shoreline cleanup

9 a.m.

Behind Sea Breeze market at West Frontage Rd and University Ave. or at Aquatic Park playground

The event is to honor five years of BFB bike advocacy. Films will include: “Pedalphiles and Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels”

Bring something to sit on.

Free to members; $10-$20 sliding scale to non members.

549-7433

“How Berkeley Can You Be?”

11 a.m. on University Avenue and California Street, culminating at Civic Center outside Berkeley High School

Festival in the park starts at 12:30 p.m.

849-4688, www.howberkeleycanyoube.com

Monday, Sept. 25

Open forum on affordable housing

5:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave.

Sean Heron of the East Bay Housing Organizations will talk about building a campaign for affordable housing. Sponsored by the Affordable Housing Advocacy Project.

1-800-773-2110

Wednesday, Sept. 27

“Improving your bottom line”

2-5 p.m.

Berkeley Yacht Club

1 Seawall Dr.

Speakers include, Mayor Shirley Dean, Dr. Drian Nattrass and Mary Altomare Natrass, authors of “The Natural Step for Business” and two of the world’s leading authorities on providing a strategic business framework promoting sustainabiliity and profitability.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Jim Hightower: “Election 2000: a Space Odyssey”

8 p.m.

King Middle School

1781 Rose St.

Sponsored by KPFA and Global Exchange

“I am an agitator,” Hightower says. “The agitator is the centerpost in a washing machine that gets the dirt out.”

$10 in advance/$12 at the door

848-6767 x609

Monday, October 2

“2nd annual Berkeley City Championship”

Tilden Park Golf Course

Entries accepted August 1. Entry Fee includes gift, cart and Awards Dinner. Proceeds benefit local organizations and projects. This event determines Berkeley City Champion and Seven other Flight Winners.

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation.

415-789-8418

Tuesdays

Easy Tilden Trails

9:30 a.m.

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl.

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2-7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips.

531-8664

Computer literacy course

6-8 p.m.

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St.

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults.

644-8511

Saturdays

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright

Thursdays

The Disability Mural

4-7 p.m. through September

Integrated Arts

933 Parker

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus.

841-1466

Fridays

Ralph Nader for President

7 p.m.

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784.

2nd and 4th Sunday

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series

2:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave.

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m.

Apropos your September 8 front page feature: I, too, am a Berkeley landlord who along with my colleagues indulged in a steak dinner at H’s Lordships last Thursday. Devouring steak is quite an American custom, absent which the Western States' economy might be in trouble.

Fortunately for both Berkeley and the beef industry, we landlords decided to go out for our meal. Just think! We might have stayed home and eaten little children.

Last year, Cal’s defense was the most dominating in the Pac-10, but the offense, guided for much of the year by true freshman Kyle Boller, never got on track and held the team back from winning. This year appears to be different.

“Last year we kind of got off track offensively, and never got to where we wanted to be,” said head coach Tom Holmoe.

This year’s version of the Bear offense showed a new look in Cal’s 24-21 victory over the Utah Utes on Saturday. Using a hurry-up offense for much of the first half, Boller showed that his sophomore year will be vastly different from his rough inaugural season.

“There’s no way I could have run the no-huddle last year,” Boller said. “I felt a lot more comfortable out there today.”

With an arsenal of new receivers, Boller spread the ball around, completing passes to nine different players, including a team-high four to true freshman Geoff McArthur. Boller also made his best throw of the day at the most crucial moment, a bullet through a crowd of defenders to wideout James Smith for a 12-yard touchdown to give Cal a 14-7 lead in the third quarter.

Boller completed 18 of his 28 passes, his most accurate performance yet at the college level. After starting for just one year in high school, Boller seems finally to be reading the field and checking off to his second and third options. He also showed improved touch on his passes, completing several fade passes dropped right in over the Utah cornerbacks’ heads.

“Kyle understands the system better now, and we knew the safeties would bite on play action,” said Cal offensive coordinator Steve Hagen. “It’s more of a game to Kyle now, rather than a task.”

The defense allowed just one touchdown, holding Utah to just 158 passing yards and pressuring quarterbacks Darnell Arceneaux and T.D. Croshaw nearly every time they dropped back to pass.

Croshaw opened the game for the Utes, but was ineffective during the first two drives. Utah coach Ron McBride quickly inserted the more mobile Arceneaux, who broke several big runs by scrambling away from the pass rush.

Cal opened the scoring when Saleem Muhammad plunged over the goal line from the one-yard line to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

Disaster hit during the next Cal drive, as Utah’s Lauvale Sape broke through on Boller, hitting his arm as he threw. The ball sailed into Dyson’s hands, and he had a clear path down the sideline to the end zone and a 7-7 tie.

When Utah drove 79 yards to inside the Cal five-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half, it looked like the Bears might be in for a halftime deficit. But the defense stiffened, as Arceneaux threw an incomplete pass, then made the mistake of lofting a pass into double coverage. Cornerback Jameel Powell skied for the ball, ending the threat and sending the teams into the locker rooms tied.

The Bears came out fired up for the second half, and Utah’s drive was ended abruptly by Asomugha, who put a big hit on running back D’Shaun Crockett, causing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Scott Fujita in Utah territory.

Boller quickly moved the Bears down the field, throwing a fade to McArthur for 21 yards before hitting Smith for the touchdown.

Carter then turned up the heat on the Ute offense, pressuring Arceneaux into two bad throws and stuffing Crockett on a run for no gain. Senior linebacker Jason Smith also made his presence felt, coming off the bench to make two big stops on Crockett in the backfield.

Cal barely dodged a bullet when Steve Smith’s apparent punt-return touchdown was wiped out by an illegal block call.

The Cal defense forced another turnover when defensive end Shaun Paga jarred the ball loose from tight end Phillippe Wells on an inside screen pass. Andre Carter corralled the ball on the Cal 48.

Boller showed his maturity on the ensuing drive, audibling to a pass to freshman Chase Lyman, who had single coverage, and finding tight end Brian Surgener for a 22-yard gain on a crossing route. Igber finally found some room on a cutback run, scoring from 15 yards out to give Cal a 14-point lead.

Utah’s Smith fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and defensive end Tully Banta-Cain returned it to the Utah 13. The Bears couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone, however, and settled for a 27-yard field goal by Jensen.

The Cal defense appeared a little complacent with the 17-point lead, and the Utes’ offense drove down the field for a touchdown. The dangerous Smith then returned a Tyler Fredrickson punt 46 yards for a touchdown to pull Utah within three points, and the Bears looked to be teetering on the brink of total disaster.

Cal put the passing game away and pounded the ball into the line three times, and Fredrickson buried the Utes deep in their own territory with just 1:16 left on the clock. Arceneaux got the Utes to the Cal 38 with seven seconds left with two passes and two scrambles, giving kicker Golden Whetman a chance to send the game into overtime. But the kick was well short, giving the Bears their fifth straight opening-day win.

“Marines in Berkeley” sounds as unlikely as “tofu in Wichita.” But both exist. Or nearly – as in the case of the Marines.

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was “quite surprised” to find that the Marines were considering a three-day military simulation in a West Berkeley warehouse belonging to Bayer Corporation.

Designed to “seize a ‘terrorist’ who is believed to be occupying a hide site in an urban building,” the proposed war games would involve, “live fire with safety frangible ammunition or (paint balls), sound/light diversionary devices and a water explosive charge to breach an exterior door,” according to an Aug. 14 letter to the mayor from David Weber, the FBI’s liaison to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Part of an overall effort to retrain the U.S. Marine corps to deal with urban environments and terrorism in particular, the letter also offered to allow the Berkeley police to use the site.

“At the conclusion of the Marine training, we invite the host city SWAT team to conduct their own tactical training exercises,” according to the letter. “I must remind you, Mayor, that this training is in no way part of any point police/military training. Your SWAT team, however, would have the benefit of receiving unique and realistic training.”

Dean said she wasn’t aware of the offer until she received the letter.

“They had received permission from Bayer to run an operation on one of their warehouses and wanted to know if we would approve it,” she said.

Bayer spokespeople could not be reached for comment, but did relay through an employee in the Human Resources Department that they would not issue a public statement on the matter.

“Bayer’s warehouse was on a list of possible reserve sites,” said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

After receiving the letter, Dean quickly penned a reply.

“While I understand the need for such training and appreciate your offer to provide special training to our police officers, I must inform you that I cannot support your request,” she wrote back.

Last year, the Marines ran Operation Urban Warrior in the streets and hills of Oakland. While Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown brought $4 million into city coffers for opening the door to the military war games, he also reaped criticism from protesters who said they believed the show of force was aimed at them.

Worthington, however, had his own gripe.

“While I have no objection to the content of the mayor’s letter,” he said, “She’s overstepping the boundaries of her job. By sidestepping the City Charter, which more or less makes the mayor a ceremonial figure, she’s trying to take the role of the City Council. This city has a city manager/council form of government. It’s not the first time she’s acted this way.”

Dean, on the other hand believes it was a decision completely within her jurisdiction. “The letter was clearly addressed to me, not the City Council,” she said.

The suspension-ridden Badgers got three interceptions from Jamar Fletcher, whom coach Barry Alvarez considered sitting out. As it was, Wisconsin (2-0) went without a dozen players who were suspended for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe store.

Bennett scored on runs of 59 and 75 yards in the third quarter and set up another TD with a career-long 83-yard burst.

Mark Mariscal left the game tied when he was wide left on a 41-yard field goal attempt with 1:14 remaining for Colorado (0-2).

No. 16 UCLA 24, Fresno St. 21

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — DeShaun Foster ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and UCLA (2-0) withstood two late touchdown passes from David Carr to Charles Smith.

Foster scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal with 11:16 remaining, and a 49-yard burst less than 2 1/2 minutes later to give the Bruins what appeared to be an insurmountable 24-7 lead.

However, Carr threw scoring passes of 16 and 32 yards to Smith to make it a three-point game with five minutes to play.

Oregon St. 28, New Mexico 20

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Pile-driving running back Ken Simonton rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns, and Oregon State’s defense kept a struggling New Mexico offense gasping for yards as the Beavers won a 28-20 nonconference football victory Saturday night.

Simonton, a 5-foot-10, 194-pound junior, allowed the Beavers to control the ball for long stretches of the second half, particularly as Oregon State’s bigger offenseive line began to wear down the Lobo defense.

San Jose St. 40, Stanford 27

STANFORD (AP) – Deonce Whitaker rushed for a career-high 254 yards on 21 carries, scored two touchdowns and set up two others as San Jose State stunned Stanford for the third consecutive year, winning 40-27 on Saturday night.

Marcus Arroyo added two touchdown passes and threw for 199 yards as the Spartans (1-1) rebounded from a 49-13 loss to No. 1 Nebraska. San Jose State last beat Stanford three straight times from 1981-83.

No. 18 Ohio St. 27, Arizona 17

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – There won’t be any talk about a defense-offense imbalance this week at Ohio State practices.

Steve Bellisari saw to that as he passed for two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder to Chad Cacchio, to lead the Buckeyes.

Nate Clements set up another score with a 47-yard punt return late in the third quarter, and Dan Stultz kicked two field goals as the Buckeyes (2-0) won in their first visit to Arizona Stadium.

SAN MATEO — When a suspected natural gas leak forced 1,000 office workers out onto the streets here last month, it became big news in two local upstart papers.

Meanwhile, the region’s well-established newspapers devoted a short blurb to the harmless incident or didn’t report it at all, choosing to devote their space to more regional, national and international stories.

Providing readers with a complete package of high-impact news, business, sports and entertainment coverage that appeals to a wide group of readers and advertisers has long been the newspaper industry’s lifeblood, but a new niche is emerging.

A growing number of entrepreneurs – like those who launched two newspapers in San Mateo last month – believe there’s a market for a more parochial approach.

What’s more, they believe they can make money by giving away their community papers for free.

The concept is facing one of its toughest tests in San Mateo, a vintage San Francisco suburb best known for a heavily trafficked bridge that bears its name.

The placid city with a population of about 94,000 now is home to an old-fashioned newspaper war in an era when the medium is supposed to be dying.

Six daily newspapers are now duking it out for readers and advertisers in a city located about 10 miles south of San Francisco.

The new San Mateo papers, the Daily News and the Daily Journal, are trying to fill a growing niche market for free publications that offer low advertising rates and cover local minutiae that readers can’t find in other media.

The cheap ad rates appeal to small businesses that can’t afford big-paper prices, and the community news fills a gap for people interested in learning more about what’s happening in their own back yards.

“This is a trend that we have been seeing for some time now. It tells me that there is still a market for intensely local newspaper coverage,” said James Bettinger, director of the Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists in Palo Alto.

The two latest entrants in San Mateo are joining with the city’s 111-year-old hometown paper, the San Mateo County Times, which charges for its copies.

Together, these papers are butting heads with the San Francisco Bay area’s largest dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News, which are owned by media giants Hearst Corp. and Knight Ridder Inc.

The San Francisco Examiner also circulates in San Mateo, but that may change later this year after San Francisco entrepreneur Ted Fang takes over the paper from Hearst, which sold it to buy the Chronicle earlier this year.

Fang, who already delivers a twice-weekly free paper to San Mateo, has said he will limit the Examiner’s news coverage and circulation almost exclusively to San Francisco.

San Mateo’s crowded newspaper market will make it tough for both of the city’s two new dailies to survive, predicted industry analyst John Morton.

“It would be a difficult market for just one free paper to break into,” he said. “Having two free papers there will make it doubly difficult.”

Free daily papers remain an anomaly – there are only a dozen or so across the nation. The largest free daily is the Metro, which distributes its paper to more than 150,000 Philadelphia commuters.

The Swedish-owned Metro hopes to establish similar free, commuter-focused papers in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.

The New York Daily News, the nation’s sixth largest daily paper, is even getting into the act. In late August, the paper announced plans to distribute a free afternoon commuter paper called “Express.”

The recent spurt in free dailies follows the success of free weekly papers, which range from advertising-only vehicles aimed at shoppers to gritty alternative publications.

Circulation at free weekly papers nationwide totals about 122 million, up by about 17 percent from four years ago, according to Editor & Publisher, a trade publication.

Meanwhile, the paid circulation at daily papers has been eroding for decades. Paid daily newspaper circulation nationwide totaled 56 million in 1999, down 3 million, or 5 percent, from 1995, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

San Mateo’s new daily papers represent expansions for their owners.

The Daily Journal is run by entrepreneurs who started a free daily paper in Berkeley last year, The Berkeley Daily Planet started in April of last year with eight pages and a circulation of about 3,000 and now produces a six-day-a-week paper of 24 to 40 pages, with a circulation of over 11,000 copies each day,

The Daily News is controlled by the same backers of a free daily paper in Palo Alto that started with eight pages in 1995 and now produces more than 70 pages in some editions today.

Arnold Lee, CEO and president of Bigfoot Media, which owns the Daily Journal and the Daily Planet, said both tiny San Mateo papers will be filling a huge news void in the city by covering government meetings, neighborhood issues and local trouble spots like the recent natural gas leak.

“The more time we spent in San Mateo, the more we realized that there was a lot going on here that wasn’t getting reported,” Lee said.

San Mateo County is attractive to newspaper publishers because it is California’s third most affluent county behind Marin and San Francisco and is home to a high concentration of families and older people – households that tend to be loyal newspaper readers.

San Mateo’s demographics are shifting, though, as the San Francisco Bay area’s technology boom ushers in younger, more eclectic residents who cashed in on the e-commerce craze.

While these changes make it more difficult to define the community’s increasingly diverse interests, Daily News Co-publisher Dave Price believes most San Mateo residents share at least one common bond.

“All the people here are starving for a newspaper that they can call their own.”

Seniors and other Berkeley residents dependent on the city’s community health clinics for pre-emptive flu vaccines may be left unprotected this autumn due to a production shortfall.

A spokesperson in the city’s Public Health Department announced this week that the city may not receive its annual shipment of influenza vaccines for months, causing its immunization program to lack the medicines at its clinics at community and senior centers. The vaccines are not expected until early November.

Hospitals and private physicians’ offices may also be affected by the production shortfall, according to city officials.

The federal Food and Drug Administration and National Center for Disease Control jointly announced earlier this week that shipments of the vaccines would be delayed due to manufacturing problems.

Residents with questions or concerns about the availability of the flu vaccine may call Immunization Coordinator Dr. Vicki Alexander at 665-6802 or public health nurse Vera Labat at 665-6829.

SAN FRANCISCO — Residents east of an industrial plant in the Pittsburg area were asked to stay in their homes with the windows and doors closed for more than two hours Saturday morning, because of a yellow cloud sent into the air after a chemical reaction. No one was injured.

According to the Contra Costa County hazardous materials director Lewis Pascalli, the cloud was not the result of an explosion but an “exothermic reaction” that made the contents of a 55-gallon drum expand rapidly.

The chemicals were stored at the Dexter Hysol Plant, which Pascalli said makes an adhesive used to secure the external tiles on the space shuttle.

The chemical involved in the incident was an epoxy resin that was in a partially filled drum of chemicals to be thrown away.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Marin Independent Journal, a 40,000-circulation newspaper based north of San Francisco, could be bought by ANG Newspapers owner William Dean Singleton, according to a published report Saturday.

The Independent Journal, founded in 1861, has been owned by Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, since 1980.

Reporters at the Independent Journal said Executive Editor Jackie Kerwin said she did not know if there is a deal to buy the paper, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.

Reporters said she told them she thinks Gannett will decide the Independent Journal’s future by Sept. 29, when the current publisher leaves for another job.

Buying the paper would allow Singleton to combine the Independent Journal’s operations with those of his other papers. ANG publishes papers around the Bay – in Oakland, Fremont, Hayward, Alameda, San Mateo, Vallejo, Pleasanton, Milpitas and Pacifica.

They have a combined circulation of about 250,000.

According to the website for Singleton’s Denver, Colo.-based MediaNews Group, controlling papers in contiguous markets will help the company be more efficient.

The publisher, Phyllis K. Pfieffer, is not the only top-ranking Independent Journal employee to leave recently.

The director of advertising and the head of online operations have resigned, and the managing editor left several months ago.

Gannett prints its Northern California version of its flagship paper, USA Today, on the Independent Journal’s presses, which has relegated the Independent Journal to afternoons, because the USA Today printing is done for mornings.

The Chronicle quotes newspaper observers as saying that any sale of the Independent Journal would likely have a clause covering USA Today printing.

SAN FRANCISCO — A regional panel gave San Francisco Bay area airports approval to extend runways into the bay, paving the way for the biggest encroachment on the bay in 40 years.

Environmentalists oppose the idea, saying the airport needs to examine other options to deal with long delays and canceled flights that plague the airport.

Supporters say the new runways would ease delays, cut down on noise complaints from neighbors and accommodate larger aircraft. They also say the runways are necessary for the economy of the area. Visitors bring an estimated $10.7 billion to the area.

The Regional Airport Planning Committee passed the plan Friday with a 10 to 1 vote, with four committee members absent. The plan would affect San Francisco International and Oakland International airports.

“Those people who have experienced delays at SFO for a long time can say there is something that is being done in the long-term to respond to that issue,” said William Ward, committee chairman. “I think this document says we’re finally going to support the new infrastructure improvements that will allow us to catch up with the population growth and the growth in the economy.”

The committee’s approval is advisory. It will be used in planning growth in bay area air traffic over the next 20 years.

Cary Greene, who represents San Jose International Airport, cast the sole “no” vote, saying the plan was too vague and that there was too much confusion over what the plan actually does.

“This plan does not in any way approve, support or endorse any specific runway project at any specific location, and if that’s the case, the plan needs to be very explicit ... if that’s not the case, I’ll have to vote ’No,”’ he said.

San Francisco airport officials want to replace two of the four existing runways to increase the space between the parallel landing strips. The new runways would jut up to a mile farther into the bay.

During bad weather at the San Francisco airport, the airport’s capacity is cut in half because federal regulations require greater distances between planes.

Oakland airport officials also are considering adding a runway in the bay to handle increased capacity.

Environmentalists say other options, such as using better radar or sending planes to other airports, would be viable solutions to the airports’ problems.

“This is not a plan, rather, a pretty weak description of each major airport’s proposed projects. It suggests gridlock is inevitable, planning is impossible, and detailed, comparative analysis is beyond this committee’s scope of mandate,” said David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay. “It’s a mistake to endorse more runways into the bay – an already severely degraded resource – without that kind of regional airport system plan.”

SANTA CRUZ — A Los Altos-based environmental group has offered $11 million to buy 1,340 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The land that the Sempervirens Fund has offered to buy includes old-growth redwood forests at the headwaters of the San Lorenzo River.

At a hearing regarding the land last week, water district directors received two letters from timber companies saying they were interested in logging the property, known as the Waterman Gap.

The two timber companies set different prices on the land. One estimated it was worth $7.4 million and another valued it at about $13 million.

The letters were not offers to buy the land, said water district manager Jim Mueller. District directors have said it is in the community’s best interest to keep the land in its natural state and not to sell it to timber companies.

The district and Sempervirens have been discussing the offer on the land since February. A hearing is scheduled for later this month, and that could be the final negotiations for the land.

Mueller said the $11 million price originally was based on the “highest and best use” of the land which included selective logging.

The Sempervirens Fund does not plan to log, but instead plans to give the land to the state parks department.

SAUSALITO — The Sausalito Police Department is looking for eyewitnesses who can describe the people who sold counterfeit tickets to the Sausalito Arts Festival over Labor Day Weekend.

The tickets look and feel just like authentic BASS ones.

“Basically, don't buy tickets on the street, no matter what the story is,” Sausalito Arts Festival promotion chairman Benjamin Train said today. “These guys are pros. This is not some guy with a laser printer.”

Train says he has notified other upcoming events, such as the San Francisco Blues Festival, that take BASS tickets to let them know tests to know if the tickets are authentic.

These events will not admit customers with counterfeit tickets, Train said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sausalito Police Department at (415) 289-4170.

SAN JOSE — With stock options, time shares and the high cost of living in Silicon Valley, divorces are no longer only about who gets the kids and the house. Now couples, attorneys and judges must figure out how to split stock options and how a single parent can afford to live in the area to be able to see the children.

Family court workers say what is making marriages harder to dissolve include nebulous assets, such as stock options. Those present the difficult question of how one divides a future employment benefit.

Typically, options are looked at as property, but sometimes they can be considered income.

That has been one of the central questions in the divorce of Silicon Valley couple Iris Fraser and David Cheriton, who filed for divorce in 1994. The divorce was finalized four years later and they are still battling over whether Cheriton must exercise his stock options in Cisco Systems and share even more money with his children and ex-wife.

Cheriton became a millionaire in 1996 when the company he co-founded was bought by Cisco. He agreed to create a trust for each child using a certain number of Cisco stock options, worth millions of dollars.

He also exercised 3 percent of his stock options for Fraser. And he pays child support each month.

Cheriton says he doesn’t want to exercise more options because he doesn’t trust his ex-wife and thinks she would try to get more money.

Fraser says Cheriton has the money and that “after everything the children and I have been through, we shouldn’t be treated like a bag of garbage.”

The court has sided with Cheriton so far, ruling that his options should not be considered income unless he exercises them and sells the stock.

Another reason the marriages are hard to dissolve is because of the high cost of living.

“People can’t afford to be divorced,” said Phil Hammer, a family law attorney who says he often discusses the financial aspect of divorce with his clients.

“I tell them to think twice about what they’re doing,” he said. “They just may not have thought about what is going to happen when they try to set up a second household, and they realize a one-bedroom apartment in Palo Alto is going for, what, $2,100 a month? And if they’ve got kids, one bedroom will not be enough.”

Deborah Taylor, a mother of two, found out how expensive being a single parent in the valley is, following her 1998 divorce from Richard Taylor.

She bought a San Jose townhouse for herself and her two children, but the payments were too much, so she moved to Arnold, a mountain town near Bear Valley. That created problems, however, because Richard Taylor wanted to keep his weekday visits with the children, and a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Arnold made that difficult.

A court officer recently recommended that the children stay in Silicon Valley. While Richard Taylor calls that “legitimate,” he said he does not want the children to be away from their mother either.

“It’s just not a great situation to be in,” he said.

While getting a divorce is more difficult, fewer couples are splitting up. In 1990, there were 8,997 divorces, according to Santa Clara County Superior Court’s Family Resources Division. In 1995, there were 7,983, and in 1999, even with a larger population, there were 7,315.

SAN FRANCISCO — Some trial lawyers are tossing out posterboards and overhead projectors in favor of computer presentations and other technology to help illustrate their arguments for jurors.

Others aren’t so quick to embrace the technology that some claim is the future of courtroom action.

But as attention spans drop and computer use increases, attorneys are looking for some way to keep jurors interested and to win cases.

Studies show the average person can keep interested for only 11 to 15 minutes.

“You ask what people watched on TV last night and they say ’everything,”’ said Nancy O’Malley, Alameda County chief assistant district attorney. “We have to have a way to keep those jurors engaged in our case or they will zone out, or they won’t remember, and they won’t pay attention, and at the end, they won’t retain the important information that you need them to retain to vote guilty.”

Dodie Katague, a Contra Costa County deputy district attorney, is a firm believer in the power of technology in the courtroom.

“I believe in my cases – complex cases that I do which involve white-collar fraud, using (technology) made many of those cases end successfully,” Katague said. “It certainly helped explain complex litigation easily to a jury.”

“We have all these phobias about problems like hard drives crashing and stuff like that,” said Larry Blazer, an Alameda County prosecutor who has won cases using presentation software. “Most of the lawyers up here don’t use it. I think a lot of people are really minimalist when it comes to trying cases.”

Convincing others in the court system that technology is beneficial is also sometimes hard. Judges have the final say about what they let in the courtroom, and some do not grant requests to bring in computers.

“One of the reasons (Contra Costa District Attorney Gary Yancey) decided to come on board is because a defense attorney beat the pants off us,” Katague said. “I’ve been begging for years to get this LCD projector, saying ‘Let’s get PowerPoint and this other equipment,’ and they wouldn’t do it.”

Then this defense attorney beat the pants off the prosecutor and the next thing you know, I got the approval to buy the equipment.”

SACRAMENTO — California’s new Indian gambling compact is so vague and shrouded by secrecy that the state doesn’t know how many slot machines are on reservations or how much money each tribe has given the state.

California voters in March ratified an agreement between the tribes and Gov. Gray Davis to operate Las Vegas-style casinos on reservations.

But the deal “doesn’t necessarily say how you’re supposed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. We are sorting through that with the tribes,” said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

The compact limits the number of slot machines that tribes could own and requires the 40 or so tribes that have gambling establishments to contribute to a fund benefiting other tribes.

The Davis administration has said the agreement capped the maximum number of slot machines at 45,206, but the legislative analyst’s office said by some interpretations the figure could be 113,000.

Earlier this year, the tribes met to divide up the new machines but that information won’t be made public, said Daniel Tucker, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.

Barankin said the attorney general does not have a complete count of the new machines.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 8, the tribes gave the state $34.5 million, based on their own calculations of what they owe. However, the money was contributed without explanation in the form of a single check from the tribes’ accountant.

The tribes didn’t know how much other tribes contributed.

“We decided it was none of our business,” said Tucker, vice chairman of the Sycuan band of Indians near San Diego. “We didn’t get into those details.”

The attorney general’s office has been trying to obtain an accounting since before the check arrived, Barankin said.

Regulators are dealing with the tribes on a “sovereign government-to-sovereign government basis,” he said.

Some of the money comes from a fee of $1,250 per slot machine that tribes must pay when they buy new ones, Barankin said.

The money was placed into an account by state Treasurer Phil Angelides.

The issue may not be resolved until a recently formed state gambling commission convenes. Davis named four of five members last week. No date for its first meeting has been set.

“That’s pathetic,” said former Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, a critic of expanded gambling. “How can they enforce the terms of the compact without knowing how many machines each tribe has purchased?”

The tribes also have contributed at least $65,000 this year to Lockyer’s political coffers.

State and county lawmakers Sept. 1 ended a four-year feud over rebuilding the hospital in East Los Angeles, which was damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. It will have 600 beds, down from the current 770.

Even with its current capacity, however, the hospital turns away about 150 uninsured patients a day, said Dr. Demetrios Demetriades, director of trauma and critical care at the medical center.

The reduced number of beds is expected to worsen that problem in a county that has nearly 3 million uninsured residents.

“We are going to have a big disaster on our hands unless we find another solution,” Demetriades told the Los Angeles Times.

About $820 million will be spent rebuilding the hospital. An 80-bed, $47 million annex is planned for Baldwin Park, about 16 miles away.

Other health experts said the annex will not make up for a smaller County-USC hospital, especially with public and private clinics closing throughout Los Angeles.

“They are rationing care by making it 600 beds,” said Rodolfo Diaz, executive director of the Community Health Foundation in East Los Angeles.

Opinion

Editorials

SAN JOSE – City planners have recommended a controversial expansion by Cisco Systems Inc. into one of Silicon Valley’s last remaining agricultural areas.

Despite objections from environmentalists and neighboring communities, as well as threatened lawsuits, the city’s planning commission on Wednesday said economic, legal, social, technological and other benefits outweighed the environmental impact.

The Internet equipment company wants to build a $1.3 billion, 688-acre office complex in the northern part of the Coyote Valley’s remaining 6,000 acres of hills and farmland. The city’s largest private employer, it has completed six new office construction projects at its San Jose headquarters in recent years, and Cisco estimates it will need room for 20,000 more as it adds about 1,000 employees a month.

The city’s planning commission report released online late Wednesday is the latest salvo in what has been a running battle of words — and soon could evolve into legal wrangling — between proponents and opponents of the large-scale project.

Opponents argue the development would destroy the area’s agricultural character and bring to mostly rural communities congested roads and housing prices that have rocketed 34 percent in just a year.

Coyote Valley was incorporated into San Jose in 1958, but the city has delayed substantial development in the area because it does not get enough tax revenues from businesses to pay for city services such as sewer lines, libraries and schools. Planners say new housing will not be built in the area for years.

The Sierra Club and Audubon Society contend the project threatens endangered spotted butterflies, red-legged frogs and a variety of plant species, and will worsen the air quality in the region because of increased automobile traffic.

“Cisco seems to be in a big rush to get this project through, but I don’t know what their hurry is. Do they want to get it done right away or get it done right?” said Dan Kalb, executive director of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter.

The San Jose Planning Commission has scheduled meetings for late this month and early October to consider the report. If approved, the matter goes to the city council, which is expected to give it the go-ahead.

Mayor Anna Caballero of neighboring Salinas said she and other city leaders would renew their objections to the development at upcoming hearings before deciding whether to take legal action.

SAN FRANCISCO — Nursing homes found to have harmed or neglected patients will face higher fines – up to $100,000 – under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Gray Davis.

The bill, which Davis signed in the garden of a San Francisco senior center, would raise minimum fines for the most serious violations, such as those that lead to a patient’s death, from the current $5,000 to a range of $25,000 to $100,000.

Less serious violations will be raised to the range of $2,000 to $20,000, from the current minimum of $1,000.

“All of us know we are living in wonderfully prosperous times and we have our parents to thank for that,” Davis said. “They fought wars and they made investments and we have reaped the dividends. It is time for them to live their sunset years with dignity.” The bill was authored by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, D-San Francisco, and was supported by nursing home administrators, patient advocates and caregivers’ associations, who called it a good start toward improving the state’s nursing facilities. Shelley said he became interested in nursing home laws five years ago after his mother had a stroke and he had to find a facility to care for her. He introduced Thelma Shelley, 79, at the bill signing ceremony.

Patient advocate Pat McGinnis said she appreciated the state’s efforts, but doubted that the increased fines would deter abuse at nursing homes, since the real issue was a shortage of nursing staff.

“I approach this bill with some ambivalence. We’re certainly happy about the bill in some respects. There are some wonderful rights for residents,” said McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reforms. “We don’t want to punish nursing homes, we want to stop the pattern of bad behavior.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The issue of which students are admitted to the University of California resurfaced Wednesday as UC President Richard Atkinson told regents he wants to evaluate new approaches to admissions in light of developments since the school scrapped affirmative action.

Atkinson did not go into detail about what he has planned, other to say that he will convene a conference on the issue in December, is sending a letter to faculty outlining his views and hopes to “encourage a focused discussion on admissions.”

Regents voted in 1995 to stop considering an applicant’s race or gender, a controversial decision that was championed by then Gov. Pete Wilson, who made repealing affirmative action a cornerstone of his brief campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Since then, the percentage of blacks, Hispanics and American Indians who enroll at UC has dropped from 22 percent to 16 percent, even though high school graduation rates for those groups increased slightly.

Regents were presented with those numbers in May, a report that evoked some dismay in light of the hundreds of millions of dollars allocated in recent years on recruitment and training programs, generally referred to under the umbrella term of outreach, that replaced affirmative action.

Regent Ward Connerly, who wrote UC’s new admissions policy and went on to chair the successful campaign for Proposition 209 which dismantled most state affirmative action programs, reacted cautiously to Atkinson’s announcement.

“When I heard the president’s report I, in the back of my mind, had a question mark about the conference and what this is all about,” Connerly said outside the meeting. “I think we should all assume that it is in good faith and that this is simply an effort to honestly look at the standards.”

Connerly speculated the review was prompted by pressure from legislators unhappy with UC’s admission figures. But he thinks it’s a mistakes to focus on the numbers.

“California is a collection of minorities,” he said. “It’s just insane for us to be doing all this number crunching, figuring out how many of these and how many of those there are on campuses.”

On the other hand, Regent Bill Bagley, who was among the 10 who voted against dropping affirmative action, commended Atkinson for raising the politically thorny issue of admission policies

“Dick Atkinson is trying to address the problem,” he said.

Bagley does not advocate going against Proposition 209, which forbids affirmative action in public education, including universities, but he has long advocated revising UC’s 1995 decision as a symbolic gesture.

“Anything we can do to remove ourselves as having been the genesis of this nationwide movement is good,” he said.

One place to start, Bagley said, might be reviewing a clause in UC’s new admissions policies that requires schools to admit 50 percent of students on grades alone. Prior to July 1995, schools had discretion of admitting as few as 40 percent of their students by grades only. The rest are judged on grades and supplemental factors, which used to include race but now are limited to socio-economic elements such as poverty.

Connerly said he would oppose any attempt to revamp the race-blind aspect of UC’s current admissions policies.

SAN JOSE — Corrections officers are suing Santa Clara County on behalf of their greatest antagonists – inmates – claiming that low staffing levels have made the area’s jails unsafe.

The union for more than 750 local jail officers filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday in San Jose and believes the case is unprecedented.

The lawsuit contends that the county’s failure to hire more corrections officers has created conditions that violate the inmates’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

As examples, the union claims that violence among prisoners and attacks on guards are on the rise; that attorney-inmate visits are regularly suspended; that jail hygiene is poor; and that inmates do not regularly receive mail and timely medical care.

“We are now declaring to the courts that we cannot perform our job to the expectations that the law requires,” said Richard T. Abbate, president of the county Correctional Peace Officers Association. “There’s been several different days, several shifts, with such low staffing that if inmates knew how really bad it was, we would be in trouble.”

County attorney Ann Ravel called the case “just another one of a series of meritless, totally baseless lawsuits filed by this organization.”

She said the officers are exaggerating conditions in the county’s jails as part of their quest for higher pay.

“There is a lower inmate population, and staffing levels have remained fairly constant,” she said.

“People are working longer hours, but nevertheless the staffing levels have remained appropriate.”

There are no unsafe conditions, either for the workers or for the inmates.”

The lawsuit asks that the court order Santa Clara County to adequately staff its jails.

For example, in the county’s main jail, the union says there should be 57 workers per shift. The lawsuit claims that since last year there have been only 40 officers per shift, and occasion, just 32.

Abbate said the union did not believe it would have standing to sue the county on behalf of the corrections officers themselves, so the case was filed in support of the inmates’ civil rights.

He said there are between 4,440 and 4,800 inmates in the Santa Clara County corrections system, which holds both people charged with crimes and convicts serving sentences.

The pall hanging over Yahoo! – the owner of the world’s most popular Web site and one of the few profitable Internet businesses – threatens to spread to other companies whose fortunes are tied to online advertising.

“If Yahoo! has a cold, then other Internet companies could get the pneumonia,” said Rick Kimball, general partner for Technology Crossover Ventures, a venture capital firm in Palo Alto.

Yahoo!’s problems have thrown several other new media stocks into a September funk. Shares in prominent new media companies such as Inktomi Corp., Ask Jeeves Inc., DoubleClick Inc. and About.com also have suffered in the past week, although not as badly as Yahoo!.

Analysts disagree on just how badly the online advertising market is ailing. But virtually everyone agrees that online advertising isn’t growing at the robust clip of nine months ago, largely because the e-commerce companies that propelled the spending are no longer flush with cash.

Following an April market meltdown among dot-com businesses that weren’t making money, the venture capitalists financing those companies tightened their purse strings. As a result, many online companies slashed their marketing budgets to save money, putting a crimp in the revenue stream at Yahoo! and other major online ad space sellers.

“Online advertising has been in the doldrums all summer,” said Dave Smith, president of Mediasmith, an online media planning agency in San Francisco and New York.

To lure business, Yahoo! and other popular online sites have been lowering their advertising rates, reversing their direction of a year ago.

The average online ad rate fell from $33 per thousand unique visitors at the end of 1999 to $31 during the summer, according to AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix, which tracks Web traffic.

No one expects Yahoo!’s revenues to fall precipitously, but the company is unlikely to produce the dramatic financial gains that helped make its stock a Wall Street darling.

Besides a short-term loss in ad revenue, Yahoo! and other Web sites are facing concerns that banner ads – the flashing online billboards that route traffic to an advertiser’s site – aren’t living up to expectations.

An estimated 4 percent to 5 percent of site visitors used to click on banner ads. The average “click-through” rate on banner ads is now 0.5 percent or lower, according to advertisers.